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Non-block ledger

XRP Ledger ticker XRP

  • No public-data lookups yet
  • 6 reviewed developments
  • 39 cited sources

Summary

Validator agreement without mining or staking. Every few seconds, validators propose the set of candidate transactions they have seen and revise their proposals toward those of the validators they trust, over several rounds, until a supermajority agrees on one set. Each server applies the agreed set to the previous ledger version and publishes a signed validation; a ledger version becomes validated, and never changes, once a server sees matching validations from at least 80% of its trusted list (its Unique Node List, or UNL). No one earns a block reward: transaction fees are destroyed. Protocol changes (amendments) take effect after more than 80% of trusted validators support them for two weeks. 12345678

Design

System
Non-block ledgerClassified as a non-block distributed ledger, and the call is contested. The XRP Ledger's own documentation calls its ledger versions blocks and the network a blockchain: each ledger version is hashed and ordered by index. It is grouped apart from classic blockchains because no one mines or stakes to produce ledgers, there is no open weight-based fork choice, and each server decides which validators count through its own trusted list rather than through an on-chain validator set.
Settlement family
Its own design
Scarce resource
Reputation
State model
Accounts
Finality
Other
Who makes blocks
Every validator proposes a transaction set in each round; there is no single leader or block producer. Which validators a server listens to is its own configuration: by default it downloads signed lists from two publishers, the XRP Ledger Foundation and Ripple, and both lists fetched on 2026-09-27 named the same 35 validators. Anyone may run a validator, but it only affects outcomes for servers that choose to trust it.
Fork choice
There is no open weight-based fork choice. A ledger version counts as validated when at least 80% of a server's trusted validators sign it; during outages the Negative UNL can lower that requirement, but never below 60% of the full list. If more than about 20% of trusted validators are unreachable or misbehaving, the network stops validating new ledgers instead of forking. The documentation says that in the worst case about 90% overlap between servers' trusted lists is needed to rule out divergence.

Qualifications

Tradeoffs

This view follows one way of thinking about design priorities, often called the blockchain trilemma. The design-priorities lesson sets out the counter-view. Read the design-priorities lesson.

Emphasizes
Security and Scalability Contested
Gives up
Open, weight-based participation in consensus. Anyone may run a validator, but in practice agreement rests on a default list of 35 validators chosen by two publishers, and operators are warned that lists which differ too much risk a fork. The design also stops, rather than forks, when more than about a fifth of trusted validators are offline, and the publisher's production server specification assumes data-centre networking.Security here means safety through validator independence rather than through a mining or staking cost: confirming an invalid transaction would take collusion by more than 80% of trusted validators. xrpl.org calls the ledger permissionless and decentralized; because agreement in practice rests on two publishers' default list and the independence of the listed operators was not reviewed, that reading is contested. The scalability emphasis refers to settlement in seconds and low fees; no measured throughput is used.
Full node at home
Demanding 1213The server documentation recommends, for production, an 8-core 3 GHz or faster CPU, 64 GB RAM, NVMe storage sustaining 10,000 IOPS and a gigabit interface on an enterprise data-centre network; its 16 GB minimum is for testing and is described as not enough to stay reliably in sync with mainnet. Normal traffic is about 2 Mbps each way, with peaks above 100 Mbps upload. Storage is bounded by online deletion; full history was estimated at about 26 TB in July 2023.
Throughput claims
  • Unclassified: 1,500 tx/s 15Unclassified; do not compare.xrpl.org lists this figure under the heading Scalable with no measurement window, method, hardware or workload, so it is not known whether it is a peak, a benchmark or an observed rate. Not comparable with other chains' figures or with observed load. Ignores propagation, state growth and spam load; the ledger's fee escalation raises costs as volume grows. Whether a server meeting the published production specification sustains this rate was not reviewed.
Headline figures are not comparable across chains. A theoretical peak is never a like-for-like number.

Scaling layers

Capabilities

Capabilities of XRP Ledger: how each one is provided, or its research status
CapabilityHow it is providedNotes and sources
Account abstractionStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Atomic swapsBuilt into the protocolLimited scopeLimited to exchanges on the XRP Ledger itself. The ledger's built-in decentralized exchange settles order-book trades and cross-currency payments in a single transaction, so both assets move together under the ledger's own rules. Conditional escrows lock XRP or opted-in tokens behind a SHA-256 preimage condition, with an expiry (optional for XRP, required for tokens) after which the escrow can be cancelled and the funds returned to the sender; that hash-locked, time-locked building block can support cross-chain swaps, but no such tooling was verified. 1620
Authenticated data publicationUnknownNot yet assessed under the current definitions; the reviewed documentation describes small records that originate elsewhere, such as price oracle entries, decentralized identifiers and credentials, but these are ledger entries held in chain state, which the current definition does not count as publication. The earlier review did not verify that no other publication feature exists. 23
Light clientsUnknownNot yet assessed under the current definitions; the reviewed server documentation describes full, validator, API, hub and stand-alone modes but no light client or proof-based verification mode, and a server answers only from history it holds. No specified light-verification method was found, and absence was not exhaustively verified. 14
Native staking or delegationStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
On-chain governanceStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Parallel executionStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Payment or state channelsNative (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definitionXRP payment channels are a built-in ledger feature: payers fund a channel and send signed claims off-ledger that payees redeem later. They are one-way and XRP-only, and do not form a routed network. 17
Programmable spendingPartial (layer not stated) Earlier definitionSpending rules come from built-in transaction types rather than user-written code: time and hash conditions on escrows, weighted multi-signing with up to 32 signers, and similar account settings. General smart contracts are not live on the XRP Ledger; Smart Escrows, which would add WebAssembly functions to escrows, are listed as in development. Hooks run on Xahau, a separate network, and EVM smart contracts run on the XRPL EVM sidechain. 916182539
Protocol-verified messagingStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Reversible transfers or recoveryBuilt into the protocolLimited scopePart (a) through built-in escrows: a sender can lock XRP or opted-in tokens in an escrow with an expiry, after which an unfinished escrow can be cancelled and the funds returned to the sender. No sender reclaim of an ordinary completed payment was found. Part (b) is not met by the protocol: multi-signing or a replaceable regular key let an account rotate or recover keys, which is rotation or a plain multisig threshold. Token issuers can claw back trust-line tokens or Multi-Purpose Tokens only if they enabled clawback before issuing: issuer control over holders; XRP cannot be clawed back. 161819
RollupsUnknownAbsence was not verified, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown rather than not present. The earlier review found no rollup settling to the XRP Ledger: the XRPL EVM network is a sidechain with its own validators, and the ledger's built-in cross-chain bridge amendment (XChainBridge) is not enabled on mainnet. 1024
Shielded transfersStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Signed partial offersUnknownNot yet assessed under this row's current definition.
Reading these values
How this feature is provided
Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
Structured assessment pending
The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
Unknown
The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
Earlier definition
Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
Reading across rows
The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.

Definitions, schema version and review history

Ecosystem & custody

Ecosystem products for XRP Ledger
Product typeStatusNotes and sources
Automated market makersNative to the protocolXRP Ledger AMM pools (built in), XRP Ledger order-book exchange (built in)The ledger has run an order-book exchange since its 2012 launch and added built-in constant-product AMM pools in March 2024 (one pool per asset pair, trading fee 0 to 1% set by liquidity-provider vote). Payments use whichever of pools and order books gives the better rate. Permissioned order books for credential holders, enabled in February 2026, do not use AMM pools. Liquidity depth was not measured. 10202122 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Issuer-native stablecoinsEstablished in the ecosystemRipple USD (RLUSD), USDC (Circle)Both are issued directly on the XRP Ledger by their issuers, not bridged: Ripple says RLUSD is natively issued on the XRP Ledger, Ethereum and other blockchains through a limited-purpose trust chartered by New York's financial regulator, and Circle's address list gives a USDC issuer account on the XRP Ledger. Holders rely on each issuer and its reserves. Tether's supported-protocols page and Circle's cross-chain transfer list do not include the XRP Ledger. 30313233 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Algorithmic stablecoinsUnknownNo algorithmic or hybrid stablecoin with material usage on the XRP Ledger was reviewed. xrpl.org mentions algorithmic stablecoins only as a possible sidechain use. 24 As of Sep 27, 2026.
BridgesEstablished in the ecosystemAxelar (through the Squid bridge interface)The XRPL EVM documentation routes XRP, XRP Ledger tokens and ERC-20 tokens between the XRP Ledger, the XRPL EVM sidechain and other chains through Axelar. The ledger's own witness-based bridge amendment (XChainBridge) is not enabled on mainnet: on 2026-09-27 explorer data showed 6 supporting validators against a threshold of 27. Risk: Bridged assets depend on Axelar's proof-of-stake validators, which co-sign cross-chain requests, and on the gateway accounts they control, not on XRP Ledger consensus; a fault or compromise there can strand or inflate bridged assets. Axelar's XRP Ledger-specific setup was not reviewed from Axelar's own documentation. 10242829 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Block explorersEstablished in the ecosystemXRPL Explorer (livenet.xrpl.org), Bithomp, XRPScan, XRPLWin, RWA.xyzxrpl.org lists these five explorers. The XRPL Explorer is open-source software maintained by Ripple. Listing is not a quality check, and explorer data is provider-indexed rather than independently validated. 343536 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Hardware walletsEstablished in the ecosystemLedger, TrezorSee custody rows: both vendors' own pages list XRP support in their own wallet apps. Support for XRP Ledger tokens on those devices was not verified. 3738 As of Sep 27, 2026.

Hardware-wallet custody

Hardware-wallet custody for XRP Ledger
Device makerStatusWhat users can and cannot do
LedgerNative supportSame as native: YesCan: Receive XRP at addresses derived on the Ledger device
Can: Send XRP from Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) after verifying the transaction on the device
Can: Track XRP balances in Ledger WalletLedger's page reminds users that a new XRP account needs the 1 XRP base reserve. Handling of XRP Ledger tokens (trust lines, RLUSD, Multi-Purpose Tokens) in Ledger Wallet was not verified. 37 As of Sep 27, 2026.
TrezorNative supportSame as native: YesCan: Send and receive XRP in the Trezor Suite app, which the page says supports XRP directly
Can: Use XRP on the Trezor Safe 3, Safe 5 and Safe 7 listed on the pageThe page also lists the XRPL EVM network. Support on older Trezor models and for XRP Ledger tokens was not verified. 38 As of Sep 27, 2026.

Public data

iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for XRP Ledger yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.

Public-data lookups for XRP Ledger
LookupStatusWhat it covers and its limits
Address or accountNot available yetPublic-data lookups for this chain are not built yet.
Tokens and assetsNot available yetPublic-data lookups for this chain are not built yet.
NFTsNot available yetPublic-data lookups for this chain are not built yet.
TransactionsNot available yetPublic-data lookups for this chain are not built yet.

A lookup covers one address or transaction from one provider. It is never a complete wallet, and an error or private value is reported as unknown, not zero. About public data · Connect your AI

Sourced developments

Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.

Publication date · newest first

Topics your AI can explain

Your AI can explain these topics for XRP Ledger through the connection, with sources.

Known gaps

What this profile's review did not establish:

Sources

Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.

All 39 sources were checked in the last 30 days.

  1. Consensus Protocol (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  2. Consensus Structure (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  3. Consensus Protections Against Attacks and Failure Modes (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  4. Unique Node List (UNL) (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  5. Negative UNL (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  6. Default validator list (signed list, 35 validators when fetched) (external site)XRP Ledger Foundation · retrieved
  7. Recommended validator list (signed list, 35 validators when fetched) (external site)Ripple · retrieved
  8. Amendments (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  9. Known Amendments (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  10. XRPScan amendments API (mainnet amendment status and votes) (external site)XRPScan · retrieved
  11. Transaction Cost (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  12. System Requirements (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  13. Capacity Planning (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  14. xrpld Server Modes (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  15. XRP (external site)XRP Ledger (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  16. Escrow (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  17. Payment Channels (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  18. Multi-Signing (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  19. Clawing Back Tokens (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  20. Decentralized Exchange (DEX) (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  21. Automated Market Makers (AMMs) (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  22. Permissioned DEXes (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  23. Decentralized Storage (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  24. XRPL Sidechains (external site)XRP Ledger documentation (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  25. XRPL EVM Sidechain documentation (external site)XRPL EVM documentation (ripple/docs.xrplevm.org) · retrieved
  26. XRPL EVM networks (mainnet and testnet) (external site)XRPL EVM documentation · retrieved
  27. Join the XRPL EVM proof of authority (external site)XRPL EVM documentation · retrieved
  28. Transfer XRP with Axelar (external site)XRPL EVM documentation · retrieved
  29. Security Overview (external site)Axelar documentation · retrieved
  30. Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin (external site)Ripple · retrieved
  31. USDC contract addresses (external site)Circle · retrieved
  32. CCTP supported chains and domains (external site)Circle · retrieved
  33. Supported protocols (external site)Tether · retrieved
  34. XRPL Explorers (external site)XRP Ledger (xrpl.org) · retrieved
  35. XRPL Explorer source repository (external site)Ripple · retrieved
  36. Bithomp XRP Explorer (external site)Bithomp · retrieved
  37. XRP wallet (external site)Ledger · retrieved
  38. XRP wallet (external site)Trezor · retrieved
  39. Xahau (external site)Xahau · retrieved

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Funding disclosure

Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding