The XRP Ledger, or XRPL, is a public ledger for payments and asset exchange, with XRP as its native cryptocurrency. Its validators reach agreement through a consensus protocol based on trusted validator lists, rather than competing through mining. The ledger includes an integrated decentralised exchange.12

Origins and XRPReport an errorSuggest an improvement

XRPL's published history identifies David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto as the engineers who began developing the ledger in 2011. It launched in June 2012. The company later known as Ripple was formed afterward; the network, its native asset, and the company are distinct subjects despite their closely connected histories.3

The initial ledger created 100 billion XRP. Its founders allocated 80 billion to the company, and Ripple later placed a substantial portion of its holdings into on-ledger escrow. This initial distribution differs from a system that creates new native coins as mining rewards.4

Transaction fees are denominated in XRP and destroyed rather than paid to validators. Required fees can increase under load, so the existence of a small reference fee is not a guarantee that every transaction can be processed immediately at that amount.5

Consensus and validator listsReport an errorSuggest an improvement

Servers exchange proposals about candidate transactions, then validate the resulting ledger state. Each server considers votes from its Unique Node List: validators that, collectively, it trusts not to collude. This is a selection of whose statements count, rather than a vote weighted by how much XRP each holder owns.6

Operators can configure their lists, but the lists need substantial overlap for servers to agree reliably on the same history. Recommended list publishers simplify that coordination. XRPL's documentation acknowledges that publishers have significant influence over which validators are widely trusted, even though publishing a list is separate from validating individual transactions.7

Exchange and issued assetsReport an errorSuggest an improvement

The ledger's exchange supports offers to trade XRP and issued tokens. An offer may execute immediately, remain partially open, or be consumed by a later trade or cross-currency payment. Auto-bridging can route a token-to-token exchange through XRP when that produces a better rate.2

Issued assets can have issuer-controlled features, including freezes and authorised trust lines. Those controls concern the particular issued asset; they should not be confused with XRP's status as the ledger's native currency. Using a common ledger does not make every token's issuer obligations identical.24

Protocol governanceReport an errorSuggest an improvement

Changes affecting transaction processing normally proceed through amendments implemented in node software. Validators vote on activation; the documentation specifies more than 80% support maintained for two weeks. Once enabled, an amendment applies to later ledger versions, and reversing its effect requires another amendment.8

A feature's presence in source code or a software release therefore does not by itself establish that it is active on mainnet. Validator votes and the amendment's activation status are part of that distinction.8

October 2026 security disclosureReport an errorSuggest an improvement

A 9 October 2026 disclosure reported an integer-overflow vulnerability in the payment engine that could create spendable XRP contrary to the ledger's intended supply rules. The report said it found no evidence of exploitation on a public network. Version 3.4.1, released on 25 September, fixed the issue immediately on upgrade, exceptionally bypassing an amendment because the maintainers judged the exploit risk greater than the risk of a temporary network halt during deployment.9

The same release also addressed a separate Batch transaction validation flaw through the usual amendment process. Its fix, fixBatchV1_2, activated on mainnet on 9 October. The two fixes illustrate that an emergency software change and an amendment can have different activation mechanisms.9

See alsoReport an errorSuggest an improvement

ReferencesReport an errorSuggest an improvement

  1. ^ XRP Ledger documentation. Consensus Protocol. https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/consensus-protocol 

  2. ^ a b c XRP Ledger documentation. Decentralized Exchange (DEX). https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/tokens/decentralized-exchange 

  3. ^ a b XRP Ledger documentation. History. https://xrpl.org/about/history 

  4. ^ a b c XRP Ledger documentation. What is XRP and Why Is It Valuable? https://xrpl.org/docs/introduction/what-is-xrp 

  5. ^ XRP Ledger documentation. Transaction Cost. https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/transactions/transaction-cost 

  6. ^ Cohen, D., Schwartz, D., and Britto, A. Consensus Structure. https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/consensus-protocol/consensus-structure 

  7. ^ XRP Ledger documentation. Unique Node List (UNL). https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/consensus-protocol/unl 

  8. ^ a b XRP Ledger documentation. Amendments. https://xrpl.org/docs/concepts/networks-and-servers/amendments 

  9. ^ a b XRP Ledger (2026-10-09). Vulnerability Disclosure Report for xrpld 3.4.1. https://xrpl.org/blog/2026/vulnerabilitydisclosurereport-bug-20261009