XRP is easing back from recent highs as leveraged long positions on Bitfinex unwind ahead of Ripple's 1 billion XRP escrow release on September 1. Separately, Mastercard has signed on as a sponsor of an XRP Ledger hackathon in New York, extending a partnership with Ripple that has grown over the past year.
XRP traded around $1.41 on Wednesday, down 1.61% on the day, as traders positioned ahead of Ripple's monthly escrow unlock. The pullback in price comes alongside a pullback in leverage, with some large bets already being closed out before the release.
Leverage unwinds before September escrow release
Bitfinex long positions in XRP climbed from 4.9 million tokens in June to a peak of 6.45 million in late August, then fell back to 5.62 million, pointing to some leveraged bets closing before the unlock. Ripple is due to release 1 billion XRP from escrow on September 1, part of a monthly schedule the company has typically only partly returned to circulation, given its history of re-escrowing a large share of each unlock. Traders are also watching an upcoming U.S. Senate vote on the CLARITY Act, along with whale activity and on-chain data, for further direction.
Mastercard sponsors XRP Ledger hackathon
Mastercard has joined an upcoming XRP Ledger hackathon in New York as a sponsor. According to U.Today, the 36-hour event is scheduled for Oct. 24-25, bringing developers together to build on the XRP Ledger the week before Ripple's Swell conference, with tracks covering protocol innovation, agentic finance, and lending and borrowing.
The sponsorship builds on a relationship that deepened in November 2025, when Ripple, Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini partnered around Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin. That followed Gemini's launch of an XRP-branded Mastercard card offering up to 4% back on some purchases. In June 2026, Mastercard said its network would support settlement with regulated stablecoins, including RLUSD, and named the XRP Ledger among the blockchains involved. Ripple has also been part of Mastercard's CBDC Partner Program since 2023, when it was selected as one of the program's first participants.
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