San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple saw a decline in XRP sales of 74% for Q3 2019, with the company citing increased fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) during that timespan. 

According to Ripple’s XRP Markets Report released Oct. 18, the sale of XRP dropped from $251.5 million in Q2 to $66.2 million in Q3, constituting a decrease of 74%. Ripple’s sale of XRP constitutes a portion of the coin’s 100 billion max supply that the company controls, primarily in distribution to institutional clients.

The report states, 

As readers may recall from the previous quarterly report, Ripple publicly announced our intention to shift to a more conservative volume benchmark for our XRP sales, away from CoinMarketCap and to CryptoCompare Top Tier. In the third quarter, we significantly reduced our XRP sales, consistent with the messaging we shared in the Q2 report. For Q3 19, our total XRP sales were $66.24 million vs. $251.51 million in the previous quarter.

While the dollar-amount of XRP sold fell precipitously from Q2 to Q3, the price of XRP also dropped 35% during that time, contributing to the depression in sales. Total XRP volume also declined between the second and third quarter of 2019, falling 53%. 

Ripple claims to have shifted away from “programmatic sales” during Q3 to focus on a “few strategic partners” who are focused on building XRP utility. The report also cites an uptick in “FUD” and the “spread of misinformation” about XRP as contributing to the decline in sales. 

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