By Matt Kreiser
Compiled by: TechFlow
Key Insights
In September this year, Ripple and the XRP community announced plans to introduce native smart contract functionality on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) through the upcoming XLS proposal, bringing more flexibility to the ecosystem.
XRPL’s average daily transaction volume increased by 94% month-on-month to 1.7 million transactions; the number of new addresses also increased by 10%, reaching a total of 105,000.
In August this year, Ripple announced that its dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD has entered the private testing phase on the XRPL and Ethereum networks and is currently awaiting regulatory approval.
Building on the proposal put forward last quarter, XRPL is developing a native lending protocol that allows users to borrow assets including XRP, stablecoins, wBTC, and wETH through a single-asset vault.
The community passed a number of amendment proposals to introduce decentralized identity (DID) functionality to XRPL, supporting verifiable digital identities, while adding price oracles to provide price references for wrapped assets and bridge assets.
Overview
As a blockchain network that has been running for more than ten years, XRP Ledger ( XRP ) provides multiple functions such as cross-currency, cross-border payments, and asset tokenization. The core advantages of XRPL lie in its fast and low-cost transaction capabilities (compared to other currency-centric blockchains), as well as rich native functions such as tokens, NFTs, decentralized exchanges (DEX), custody services, built-in compliance and token management tools.
With these features, XRPL is able to accomplish many other tasks of other blockchain networks, such as supporting markets for NFTs, stablecoins, synthetic assets, etc. These features are highly composable through built-in mechanisms such as the central limit order book CLOB and automated market makers AMM. It is worth noting that the base layer of XRPL does not currently support complex smart contracts. This design aims to ensure the security and stability of the network by simplifying the architecture. However, the XRPL community is actively exploring the possibility of introducing more advanced scripting functions, such as Hooks technology. In addition, through the side chain approach, XRPL can achieve additional functional expansion and bring more application scenarios to the entire ecosystem.
The development of XRPL is supported by multiple teams and individuals, including Ripple , InFTF (formerly XRPL Foundation), XRPL Labs (and its sub-project Xaman), and XRPL Commons . XRPL not only serves individual users, but also provides digital payment infrastructure for traditional financial institutions such as commercial banks and fintech companies. The community has shown strong interest in the development of B2B and B2C financial solutions. For a complete introduction to XRP Ledger, please refer to our coverage launch report .
Key Metrics
Financial Analysis
As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, XRPL's native token XRP ranked seventh in the global crypto asset market value with a market value of US$34.7 billion. Its circulating market value increased by 31.1% month-on-month, while the price increased by 28.5%. The reason why the market value grew faster than the price is that the circulating supply also increased by 1.6% month-on-month. It is worth mentioning that in September this year, asset management company Grayscale launched the XRP Trust Fund, providing a new investment channel for qualified investors. In addition, in October and November, ETF issuers such as Bitwise , Canary and 21Shares also submitted S-1 documents respectively, planning to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on XRP.
In the XRPL network, transaction fees are systematically destroyed , which has a deflationary effect on the total supply (100 billion XRP). Since the launch of the network, nearly 13 million XRP have been destroyed (about $7.9 million as of the end of the third quarter of 2024). The main reason for the low destruction rate is that XRPL has very low transaction fees (less than $0.002 per transaction). At the same time, 1 billion XRP (about $610 million as of the end of the third quarter of 2024) are released from the escrow account to Ripple every month. XRP that Ripple does not use or distribute during the month will be redeposited in a new escrow contract. This mechanism will continue to operate until all the remaining approximately 39 billion XRP enter the circulation market. At that time, the destroyed transaction fees will become the only variable affecting the supply of XRP.
Unlike many other cryptocurrency networks, XRPL does not distribute rewards or transaction fees to validators. Under the Proof-of-Association (PoA) mechanism it adopts, the main incentive for validators is to support the decentralization of the network, which is similar to the full nodes of Ethereum or Bitcoin, rather than validators or miners in the traditional sense. The PoA consensus mechanism relies on the trust relationship between nodes, which is managed and organized through unique node lists (UNLs).
It is worth noting that XRP's market value increased by 31% month-on-month, far outperforming the overall crypto market's month-on-month decline of about 3%. Looking at annual data, XRP's circulating market value increased by 26% year-on-year. In the XRPL network, transaction fees are destroyed instead of being distributed to stakers like other networks. Nevertheless, the destruction of transaction fees reduces the total supply of XRP, thereby increasing the value of the remaining XRP. In a sense, this mechanism actually transfers wealth from users who pay transaction fees to XRP holders.
Network analysis
Against the backdrop of a general decline in network indicators in the previous quarter (except for the total number of addresses), a number of indicators rebounded in the third quarter of 2024. Among them, the average daily transaction volume increased by 94% month-on-month to 1.7 million transactions; the number of new addresses also increased by 10% month-on-month to 105,000. However, according to Ripple's third-quarter report , this growth was mainly driven by small transactions (single transaction amount less than 1 XRP), which seemed to be related to spam activities. From an annual perspective, the number of new addresses added quarterly fell by 34% from the third quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2024.
In the XRPL network, account creation and deletion are of great significance, because each account creation requires a deposit of 10 XRP, and the deposit can be retrieved after the account is deleted. This mechanism makes XRPL's account indicators more reliable than other networks that allow zero-cost account creation, and also reduces the risk of Sybil attacks.
Despite the rebound in transaction volume, XRPL's total active addresses fell by 3% month-on-month. This overall decline was mainly due to a 20% month-on-month decrease in active sending addresses (i.e., unique senders), while active receiving addresses (i.e., unique receivers) only increased by 7% month-on-month.
It is worth noting that XRPL supports destination tags , which allows one address to receive and track XRP deposits for multiple users. This design may lead to an underestimate of the number of daily active addresses. For example, an account on a centralized exchange may represent a large number of users, while in other networks (such as Ethereum or Bitcoin), each user usually needs a separate address to receive tokens.
This quarter, active receiving addresses exceeded active sending addresses for the second consecutive quarter. The number of active receiving addresses reflects the total number of addresses that have received transfers or other transactions. When the number of receiving addresses exceeds the number of sending addresses, it usually means that more previously inactive wallets have received tokens. This phenomenon is common in airdrop activities, which is a strategy to reward and attract community members through token distribution. Since the transaction fees of the XRPL network are low or support batch transactions, this makes airdrops more practical on this network.
After two consecutive quarters of decline, payment transaction volume increased by 110% quarter-on-quarter this quarter due to a surge in inscription activity starting at the end of 2023. In contrast, the number of total active addresses fell by 3%, as mentioned above. Historical data shows that when there is a smaller surge in network activity, the difference between active receiving addresses and sending addresses is usually caused by centralized exchanges and custodial platforms. These platforms often use destination tags to identify transaction destinations and mainly complete deposit and withdrawal operations through payment transaction types. Therefore, the number of receiving addresses for payment transactions is always greater than the number of sending addresses.
In addition, users generally tend to create wallets on centralized exchanges or custody platforms in order to quickly obtain the initial XRP required to create a self-custodial wallet. After obtaining the initial XRP, many users will withdraw it to the self-custodial wallet, which leads to a decrease in active sending addresses and an increase in active receiving addresses.
Total daily transaction volume on XRPL includes 43 different transaction types, such as payments, escrow creation, NFT destruction, and account deletion. The average daily transaction volume this quarter increased by 94% month-on-month, from 900,000 transactions per day to 1.75 million transactions per day.
OfferCreate was the highest-grossing transaction type until the first quarter of 2024. OfferCreate is used to submit an order on the order book, but it does not necessarily lead to an immediate transaction unless it matches an existing open order. It is primarily used to initiate DEX limit orders, where a buy or sell request on the order book is represented by an Offer object. Some unfulfilled orders generate new orders, similar to the UTXO model. In addition, users can cancel unfulfilled orders through OfferCancel transactions. Trust Lines are structures that hold tokens that protect accounts from sending unwanted tokens, and TrustSet transactions are used to open or close these trust lines.
Payment transactions and OfferCreate transactions increased by 9% and 1% month-on-month respectively. Prior to the first quarter of 2024, OfferCreate was the most common transaction type on the XRPL network.
Overall, the average daily total transaction volume increased by 94% month-on-month, from 900,000 transactions per day to 1.75 million transactions per day. The "other" category of transactions includes transaction types related to NFTs, escrows, multisigs, setting signing keys, etc. Detailed information on these transaction types can be found in the Ecosystem Overview section.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
CLOB (Central Limit Order Book)
XRPL's Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) is primarily responsible for handling transactions of fungible tokens (also known as issued currencies or simply tokens). CLOB has been a core component of XRPL since its inception. Its advantage is that it reduces reliance on third-party trust and avoids the inherent risks of smart contracts by integrating liquidity. Currently, most transactions on XRPL come from the local CLOB. Although XRPL has only one CLOB, multiple markets (also known as gateways) provide users with access interfaces. These markets share liquidity and provide a convenient operating experience for ordinary users.
AMM (Automated Market Maker)
On the basis of the existing CLOB, XRPL introduced automated market makers ( AMM ) through the XLS-30 standard in March of the first quarter. AMM relies on liquidity pools to operate and price assets algorithmically rather than creating orders with preset specifications. Liquidity pools allow token holders to earn transaction fees by providing liquidity. It is worth mentioning that orders can be routed through AMM and CLOB at the same time, because the two work together to form the core functionality of DEX.
In September, XRPL activated a revision to better match transaction sizes, thereby optimizing AMM swap rates. Also in September, Hummingbot released its XRPL connector (as part of Hummingbot 2.0), supporting automated market making and arbitrage strategies on XRPL.
server
Both nodes and validators (called servers) run the same client software: rippled . Since its release in September of Q3, over 55% of nodes have upgraded to V2.2.3 . As of the end of Q3, XRPL was supported by 621 nodes and 109 validators. Since Q2, the number of nodes has increased from 602 and the number of validators has decreased from 119.
XRPL servers participate in federated consensus as part of the XRPL Proof of Association (PoA) consensus mechanism. Validators do not stake tokens or receive financial rewards. Instead, the system is based on trust between nodes. Each node sets a list of trusted nodes, called a unique node list (UNL). In addition, Negative UNL is a feature that adjusts the server's "effective UNL" based on whether the validator is currently online and running. The UNLModify transaction was called an average of 4.3 times per day in the third quarter, marking a change in Negative UNL , indicating that a trusted validator has gone offline or back online.
Ecosystem Analysis
While the XRPL ecosystem has many similar features to programmable settlement networks such as Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano, XRPL itself does not natively support smart contracts. However, in September, Ripple, in conjunction with the broader XRP community, announced plans to introduce native smart contracts on XRPL through the upcoming XLS proposal. These smart contracts will be permissionless, allowing users to run without prior approval and support XRPL built-in features such as custody , NFTs , authorized trust lines , payment channels , DEX , and AMM .
XRPL does not enable any smart contracts at the bottom layer because of design considerations to maximize security, performance, and stability. Instead, XRPL has some core functions (such as decentralized exchanges and currency issuance) built directly into the protocol. XRPL supports multiple asset forms, which are represented on the chain through Tokens (also called issued currencies or IOUs) and can represent any currency, commodity, or unit.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
The total market capitalization of fungible tokens (i.e., issued currencies) fell 24% month-over-month to $95 million. There are more than 3,800 listed assets on XRPL, but the top-ranked token, SOLO, accounts for 34% of the total market cap. The top four tokens together account for 71% of the total market cap.
As of the end of Q3, the top tokens on XRPL by market cap were as follows:
Sologenic ( SOLO ) has a market cap of $34.3 million and 228,000 holders. SOLO is primarily used to pay transaction fees on the Sologenic Gateway .
Bitstamp BTC ( BTC ) has a market cap of $12.5 million and 4,500 holders. Bitstamp BTC is a wrapped version of Bitcoin offered by Bitstamp .
Gatehub Fifth ETH ( ETH ) has a market cap of $11.3 million and has 26,000 holders. Gatehub Fifth is a wrapped version of Ether provided by GateHub .
Coreum ( CORE ) has a market cap of $8.9 million and 71,000 holders. CORE is the native token of the Coreum sidechain , also developed by the Sologenic team.
Trust Lines are a mechanism on XRPL for holding fungible tokens while ensuring that users are not forced to hold tokens they don't want. Trust Lines therefore make token behavior metrics on XRPL more reliable. The first two trust lines for an account are free , but after that each token object (such as issuing currency) requires locking 2 XRP (called the owner reserve). In addition, creating a new address also requires a base reserve of 10 XRP. These requirements significantly increase the cost of conducting a Sybil attack on XRPL (i.e., manipulating network metrics by forging multiple false identities). Therefore, the number of holders becomes a reliable indicator of token adoption on XRPL, especially when the supply of fungible tokens is much higher than that of NFTs.
The average daily trading volume of the Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) on XRPL increased by 34% month-on-month to $640,000, while the average daily number of transactions increased by more than 1,110% month-on-month to 740,000. At the same time, the average number of daily CLOB traders increased by 1% month-on-month to 2,300. Sologenic is the most important DEX on XRPL (i.e. the primary gateway to native DEX), ranking first by trading volume of issued currencies. Other well-known DEX (gateways) include XPMarket and xrp.cafe .
Since its launch in March, AMM volume has exceeded CLOB volume for six consecutive days in June and peaked at $2.5 million. Although it did not reach the daily highs of the third quarter, AMM daily average volume still increased by 9% to approximately $160,000, reflecting continued increased usage. Existing platforms such as Sologenic and xrp.cafe have been integrated , as well as new platforms such as Orchestra Finance and Moai Finance . Some notable features provided by these protocols include Orchestra Finance's continuous auction mechanism to reduce transaction fees, and the Telegram trading bot ( First Ledger ) introduced by the team behind xrp.cafe. Liquidity on AMM is shared between all DEXs (gateways), just like CLOB.
On XRPL, stablecoins and wrapped tokens performed particularly well by number of holders. Gatehub and Xaman (formerly Xumm ) have partnered to offer a total of 14 digital assets on XRPL. As of the end of the third quarter, the top stablecoins and wrapped tokens (also known as IOUs) on XRPL are as follows:
Bitstamp BTC : Market cap $12.5 million, 4,500 holders
Gatehub Fifth (ETH) : Market cap: $11.3 million, 26,000 holders
Gatehub USD : Market value: $3.4 million, number of holders: 20,000
Bitstamp USD : Market cap $2 million, 7,000 holders
In April, Ripple first announced plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin on XRPL and Ethereum. The stablecoin will leverage its native functionality on XRPL and adopt the ERC-20 standard on Ethereum. The stablecoin will be fully backed by USD deposits, short-term U.S. Treasuries, and “other cash equivalents” and will be subject to monthly third-party audits. In many cases, the introduction of a trusted stablecoin in a new environment can often significantly increase liquidity (such as iUSD launched on Cardano in 2023 ), especially as an ideal trading pair asset in AMMs.
Since then, Ripple has provided some additional updates on RLUSD. In August, Ripple announced that RLUSD was in internal testing on XRPL and Ethereum, pending regulatory approval. In October, Ripple President Monica Long announced that RLUSD was "ready to operate," and Ripple announced multiple exchange partners for the token as well as an advisory board for RLUSD. Notably, RLUSD is issued under a New York Trust Company charter to ensure strict oversight and regulation.
Still, stablecoins on XRPL have yet to achieve the same level of adoption as major stablecoins on other networks, such as USDT, which has a market cap of $125 billion, and USDC, which has a market cap of $37 billion.
Also in April, a proposal was made to introduce a native lending protocol ( XLS-66 ) on XRPL, where users can lend and borrow supported assets such as XRP, wBTC, and wETH using a single asset vault ( XLS-65 ). Unlike overcollateralized lending protocols such as Aave , this protocol aims to provide on-chain term loans and interest rate loans through off-chain underwriting, risk management, and insurance funds, a model similar to that implemented by TrueFi on Ethereum.
In September, both proposals received a number of updates , including a single asset vault to hold assets directly, and vault and loan protocols to support asset issuer recovery and asset freezing in compliance with compliance and regulatory requirements.
Axelar , a full-stack interoperability protocol (i.e., crypto overlay network), integrated XRPL in Q1. It connects the XRPL ecosystem to over 60 networks, including the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems. As AMMs grow, Axelar connectivity makes it easier to source liquidity from many of the highest TVL networks.
Real World Assets (RWAs)
Real World Assets (RWA) can be used on XRPL in a variety of ways. In August, OpenEden launched a tokenized U.S. Treasury bill (T-bill) on XRPL, and Ripple pledged to allocate $10 million to OpenEden's TBILL token. In addition, Archax and Ripple are developing a mechanism for financial institutions to tokenize RWA on XRPL, aiming to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of RWA to XRPL next year. Zoniqx and Ripple are also working on bringing Zoniqx's tokenization services to XRPL. In particular, the clawback function will allow asset issuers to attempt to transfer RWA to the chain while maintaining compliance.
Last quarter, Meld Gold announced a partnership with Ripple to bring fungible gold and silver assets to XRPL. In addition, Tiamonds is a tokenized diamond project that allows users to hold NFTs representing real-world diamonds on the xrp.cafe marketplace.
In addition to RWAs, XRPL is also seen as a tool for other institutional products. Ripple is one of the main companies promoting the application of XRPL technology in institutional and government scenarios. The company is committed to using XRP and XRPL to provide on-demand liquidity services, asset custody, and tokenization solutions.
NFTs
On XRPL, the creation and transfer of NFTs is built into the core protocol, so no smart contracts are required, similar to XRPL's issued currency (also known as native tokens). In October 2022, NFTs achieved functional standardization through the XLS-20 standard, bringing users a number of advantages including royalties and anti-spam features. These features not only help users avoid receiving unnecessary tokens, but also help users stay in compliance by avoiding exposure to tokens and smart contracts that are prohibited in certain specific regions.
In the third quarter, NFT minting and destruction transactions increased by 93% and 148% respectively, showing the active market activity. However, NFT creation and acceptance bid transactions decreased by 13% and 8% respectively, while cancellation bid transactions were basically the same as the previous quarter. These data reflect the dynamic changes in the NFT market on XRPL.
In Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, NFTokenMint became the most common NFT transaction type on XRPL, surpassing NFTokenCreateOffer, due to a surge in NFT minting activity. However, in Q2 and Q3 2024, NFTokenCreateOffer once again became the dominant transaction type. This change is consistent with the overall trend of OfferCreate transaction types dominating on XRPL (OfferCreate is a transaction type used to create buy and sell orders). As of the end of Q3 2024, the total number of NFTs minted through the XLS-20 standard has reached 6.7 million , of which more than 3.4 million were minted in Q4 2023 alone.
Many well-known NFT projects have emerged on XRPL, including:
Gaming NFTs, such as Zerpmon , a blockchain game similar to Pokemon;
Digital collectibles from traditional Web2 businesses, such as Ducati Motorcycles ’ branded collections and FIFA World Cup League digital assets;
Tokenization solutions for real-world assets, such as Tiamonds ’ tokenized diamonds and the carbon credit program launched by Xange .
Additionally, last quarter xrp.cafe launched its automated NFT launch platform, allowing any user to easily publish NFT collections on the XRPL.
Sidechain
Multiple sidechains developed for XRPL are in progress, and some have already been launched. XRPL has always maintained the simplicity of the main chain (L1), providing higher programmability for general and specific use cases through sidechains. This design enables XRPL to expand its functionality while maintaining high efficiency.
Coreum
Coreum ( CORE ) is an enterprise-grade L1 blockchain focused on interoperability and scalability. The network runs the WASM virtual machine and uses the Bonded Proof-of-Stake (BPoS) consensus mechanism to ensure network security by staking tokens. Coreum's native token CORE is used to pay transaction fees, stake, and reward validators.
Coreum was developed by the Sologenic team to address user needs that XRPL could not efficiently meet. Its initial goal was to provide support for security tokenization, such as NYSE tokenized stocks and synthetic assets. In March 2024, Coreum completed the integration of the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (I BC) , connecting to all IBC-supported networks including Cosmos Hub, Ethereum, and BSC. Subsequently, Coreum implemented the following important updates:
In June 2024, integrate with Picasso Network to achieve IBC interoperability with Solana;
Band Oracle, which integrates Band Protocol, for bridging real-world assets (RWAs) to IBC-supported chains;
The Coreum V4 upgrade was launched in July 2024, introducing new features such as smart contract expansion, asset recovery capabilities, and dynamic NFT data.
Currently, users can transfer assets between Coreum and XRPL through the non-custodial Sologenic bridge . This interoperability brings more flexibility and scalability to the XRPL ecosystem.
XRPL EVM Sidechain
Last quarter, the Ripple team announced XRPL EVM Sidechain as the official name of the Peersyst EVM Sidechain proposal, which aims to introduce smart contracts to the XRPL ecosystem. The sidechain is designed to grant XRPL ecosystem access to EVM developers and functions, with a general scope. The sidechain is built on the Cosmos SDK (specifically evmOS) and connected to XRPL through the XRPL-EVM bridge . The devnet is currently online and uses the Comet BFT PoS consensus mechanism (a variant of Tendermint ) to create a block every approximately 3.9 seconds.
The latest version of the Peersyst EVM sidechain was deployed on devnet V2 in Q2 2023. Dapps such as the identity protocol XRPDomains have been deployed on the testnet. Notable additions to the latest version include:
Supports transfer of XRP, IOU and ERC-20 tokens via bridge ;
Introducing the Proof-of-Authority consensus mechanism, where a group of trusted nodes are responsible for verifying transactions;
Support for verifying smart contracts on block explorers .
Cosmos IBC interoperability was enabled in May, allowing tokens to be bridged from IBC-enabled chains to XRPL. In addition, the Ripple team announced in June that Axelar will replace the currently implemented bridge design proposed in the Cross-Chain Bridge ( XLS-38d ) specification as the exclusive bridge for the XRPL EVM sidechain. This will include sourcing the sidechain's native Gas token (eXRP) from XRPL. In a follow-up announcement , Peersyst stated that the XRPL EVM sidechain will be launched after integrating Axelar "later this year."
Root Network
The Root Network sidechain is a blockchain-based NFT system focused on UX and Metaverse, operated by Futureverse . The Root Network and its bridges to XRPL and Ethereum are in alpha, and the bridge was upgraded in September to allow bidirectional bridging of any token between XRPL and the Root Network.
Root Network is based on Substrate Forked, using XRP as the default Gas token and supporting EVM smart contracts. The network uses a delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS) consensus mechanism (via the ROOT token). Root Network's development plans are aligned with XRPL, with plans to integrate the XLS-20 NFT standard and obtain liquidity from the XRPL decentralized exchange (DEX). In addition, through FuturePass 's account abstraction capabilities, Root Network will provide users with social recovery, asset management, more flexible wallet options, and a familiar user experience similar to Web2.
Hooks
Hooks is an innovative feature developed by XRPL Labs to provide XRPL with smart contract-like programming capabilities. While Hooks is not Turing-complete and cannot implement complex arbitrary logic, it allows for conditions and triggers to be attached to transactions, similar to scripts on the UTXO chain of Bitcoin or Cardano (before the Alonzo upgrade). With Hooks, developers can implement a variety of functions, including timed payments, distributing royalty income to creators, limiting transaction volume, or specifying counterparties. In July, the XRPL Labs team launched the latest Hooks testnet written in JavaScript (JS), one of the most widely used programming languages.
Governance
The XRP Ledger (XRPL) uses an off-chain governance process that allows community members and organizations to propose changes to the network. Users can submit proposals (also known as amendments ) to the " XRPL-Standards " repository on the project's GitHub. Block-producing validators on the network can then run a version of the XRPL source code that implements the proposed amendment. If 80.00% or more of the block-producing validators support the modified source code for two weeks, it will be implemented as the new source code for the network. Validators that do not support the modified source code will be blocked from contributing to consensus until they update to the newly changed version.
Some of the most important proposals recently passed include:
Decentralized Identity ( XLS-40 ): Decentralized Identity (DID), which was launched at the end of October, enables verifiable, self-sovereign digital identities on XRPL for use cases such as compliance, access control, digital signatures, and secure transactions.
Price Oracles ( XLS-47 ): This amendment, enabled in November, brings price oracles to XRPL for pricing wrapped/bridge assets. Now, anyone can call OracleSet to create or update an existing price oracle, or OracleDelete to delete an existing price oracle. Oracle providers Band Protocol and DIA previously integrated with XRPL in July . Once oracles are enabled, the Get Aggregate Price API call aggregates asset prices from all live oracles while discarding any outliers.
Additionally, some important governance proposals were proposed for Q3 2024:
Multi-Purpose Tokens ( XLS-33 ): A proposal to introduce the Multi-Purpose Token Standard (MPT). MPT supports metadata to store parameters about issued RWAs, such as the maturity date of tokenized bonds. Combined with the call-back feature enabled in Q1 2024, XRPL is continuing to add features to provide more control to compliant token issuers.
AMM Clawback ( XLS-74 ): A proposal to support clawback functionality on AMMs. Regulated tokens such as RLUSD need to have clawback functionality in order to have fully compliant AMM liquidity pools.
Simulate Trade Execution ( XLS-69 ): A new Simulate API method is proposed for developers to safely experiment with trades for testing and refinement purposes.
Permissioned Domains ( XLS-80 ): This proposal introduces permissioned domains, which are domains that can only be accessed by users based on their decentralized identities (DIDs). Notably, this amendment builds on the on-chain credential support ( XLS-70 ) first proposed last quarter. XLS-70 will add support for creating, accepting, and deleting credentials on the XRPL as part of identity management first introduced in Decentralized Identity (XLS-40), which was implemented at the end of October.
In September, entities that announced support for XRPL, including Ripple , InFTF (formerly the XRPL Foundation), XRPL Labs (and Xaman ), XRPL Commons , and other members of the XRP community, began discussions to establish a new XRP Ledger Foundation. In addition, the XRPL Foundation assets agreed to be transferred to a new independent foundation with a governance structure that includes developers, users, academics, validators, and infrastructure providers. As part of the transition process, the existing XRPL Foundation team established a new Inclusive Financial Technology Foundation (InFTF), which will merge into a foundation entity in the future.
Other important updates
In Q3, the XRPL ecosystem further enhanced the overall utility of the network through a number of new integrations, partnerships, and feature upgrades:
Peersyst Launched XRPL Snap which integrates Metamask wallet with XRPL.
Immersive announced that it is working with Xahau Network to bring self-custodial on-chain Mastercard to XRPL.
Futureverse , an artificial intelligence and metaverse technology and content company, announced plans to integrate Ripple Custody to securely custody its digital assets.
Ripple announced the launch of Ripple Payments in Brazil, with Mercado Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, as its first customer. In addition, Ripple also announced a partnership with Fenasbac in Brazil to support the development of financial technology on XRPL through the Next accelerator program.
Ripple has introduced a “Try it” feature for the Ripple Payments API for developers to test API requests in real time without logging in or using real funds.
XRPScan announced the beta launch of its XRPL advanced search engine , which allows users to search and filter by over 100 different transaction fields.
XRPL infrastructure developer Girin Labs announced that it has received funding from Ripple’s XRP Ledger Japan and Korea Fund . Girin Labs is developing the Girin Wallet for XRPL and the Lotus Protocol , a liquid staking token and lending protocol on the Root Network XRPL sidechain.
XRPL Community Support Program
In September, the XRPL Grant Program introduced artificial intelligence (AI) as a new funding pathway. Previously in May, Ripple announced changes to the XRPL Grant Program , including revised applicant screening criteria , rolling applications , inclusion of other XRPL-based project developers in the screening process, office hours for potential applicants and rejected applicants to receive feedback, and the launch of a feedback survey for applicants. In addition, the XRPL Accelerator Program has two tracks in 2024: the Startup Program for early projects and the Scaling Program for later projects. In July, the first Startup Program cohort was announced , while the second Scaling Program cohort began in September .
Also in July, Ripple announced a partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to connect developers to DIFC's Innovation Hub, while in August it announced a partnership with APAC DAO to support developers developing on the XRP Ledger in Southeast Asia. Other community support initiatives include the XRPL Hackathon and the Aquarium Residency provided by XRPL Commons for developers. The RippleX Bug Bounty Program also pays bounties to individuals or groups who identify and report bugs in the ripple, xrpl.js, xrpl-py, and xrpl4j repositories.
Summarize
XRPL's native order book (CLOB) and automated market maker (AMM) saw volume increase by 34% and 9% month-on-month, respectively, in its second full quarter. In addition, XRPL's average daily transaction volume increased by 94% month-on-month to 1.7 million transactions, and the number of new addresses increased by 10% to 105,000. However, this growth was mainly driven by small transactions (<1 XRP), which may be related to spam activities according to Ripple's third quarter report for 2024.
Several key proposals were also enabled in the third quarter, including decentralized identity (DID), which supports verifiable digital identities, and price oracles for pricing wrapped or bridged assets. In addition, Ripple's US dollar stablecoin RLUSD has entered the private beta stage on XRPL and Ethereum since August, awaiting regulatory approval. At the same time, Ripple and the XRP community are developing XRPL's native smart contract functionality, as well as a lending protocol that supports users to lend and borrow assets (such as XRP, wBTC, and wETH) through single-asset vaults. With the gradual implementation of these upgrades, XRPL is expected to attract more users in the future and further increase network activity.
