XRP escrow past its unlock time? Why it does not release by itself
An escrow on the XRP Ledger holds XRP until a set time or condition. People often assume the funds move as soon as that time arrives. They do not. Nothing happens until someone sends an EscrowFinish transaction. Until then the XRP stays in the escrow.
The two times that matter
- FinishAfter: from this time, the escrow can be finished and the XRP goes to the destination.
- CancelAfter (optional): from this time, the escrow can be cancelled and the XRP returns to the sender.
An escrow may also have a crypto condition. It then needs the correct fulfillment as well, so reaching the time is not enough.
How to finish one
Time-based escrows can be finished by sending an EscrowFinish transaction that names the escrow's owner and sequence number. Not every wallet offers this, so check your wallet's documentation or use a reputable XRP Ledger tool. It costs a tiny network fee.
Sending the transaction should never require handing your secret key to another person or website.
A note on your reserve
Each object you own on the XRP Ledger, including an escrow you created, raises your account's reserve requirement. Part of your XRP may therefore look unavailable. That is a rule of the ledger and is not a sign that anything is stuck.
Check your own wallet
Check an XRP address for escrows with StuckScan. It is free and read-only: you paste a public address, with no wallet connection and no signing. It shows what it checked on each chain, and anything it could not check is listed as such.
Never share your seed phrase or private key. Nobody legitimate needs them to help you, and BOTLAB never charges a fee to "recover" funds.
Want these checks run on your own strategy? See the strategy and backtest audit.
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