XRP Ledger (XRPL) will officially activate Permissioned Domains on February 4, 2026, after more than 91% of validators supported the proposed XLS-80 upgrade.
This milestone comes amidst a challenging XRP landscape, with prices having fallen by double digits over the past week due to the overall market downturn. As the network prepares for a major infrastructure upgrade, the question is whether the launch of Permissioned Domains will help reverse the XRP price trend.
What are XRPL Permissioned Domains?
The XLS-80 proposal introduces Permissioned Domains – managed environments on the XRPL where user access and activity are determined based on rule-based credentials.
Instead of building a Private Blockchain, these domains act as access layers on the public XRPL, controlling who is allowed to participate while still leveraging the shared infrastructure of the decentralized ledger.
"This approach aims to bridge the gap between the transparency and security of decentralized blockchain technology and the regulatory requirements of traditional financial institutions," the proposal states.
Based on the XLS-70 Credentials framework, Permissioned Domains allows access control based on credentials. The domain owner sets the rules, defining a list of accepted credentials.
Accounts with valid credentials will automatically become members without requiring complex joining procedures. The proposal also introduces new technical components, such as the PermissionedDomain ledger object and management transactions like PermissionedDomainSet and PermissionedDomainDelete.
According to the proposal document, this upgrade is foundational. It doesn't yet provide direct functionality to end users, but rather paves the way for future upgrades and new features, such as decentralized exchanges with access control, or other legally compliant applications.
The proposal also explicitly addresses security factors. This model relies on the credibility of the credential issuer and domain owner, as well as identifying risks such as credential leaks or the potential abuse of Permissioned Domains for illegal activities – risks that need to be controlled at the application and administration levels.
The XLS-80 surpassed the supermajority validator threshold (over 80%) at the end of January as part of the XRP Ledger upgrade process. The proposal then entered a two-week waiting period before officially being activated on February 4th.
Timeline of the Permissioned Domains upgrade deployment on XRPL. Source: XRPSCANPermissioned Domains solves a core problem for financial institutions : meeting legal standards while leveraging the advantages of blockchain. Previously, they needed to build separate, standalone solutions. Now, institutions can operate on XRPL in compliant regions.
“This means that large financial companies can now leverage the fast and inexpensive XRP network for their customers, while tightly controlling who is allowed to use it – without having to build their own separate blockchain. Imagine building a VIP lounge with security checks on an existing public road. Could this be a significant signal for entities like Swift?” commented one analyst.
Do Permissioned Domains affect the price of XRP ?
The implementation of Permissioned Domains increases XRPL's attractiveness to institutions and enhances its practical value . However, whether this will actually drive up XRP price is another matter.
Over the past seven days, XRP has fallen 16% due to a broader market downturn. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.59, down 0.62% in the last 24 hours.
XRP price chart in February 2026. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsWhile this is a significant upgrade, Permissioned Domains are unlikely to create a noticeable change in XRP price immediately. The XLS-80 proposal does not impact XRP's supply, fee structure, or demand.
Instead, the benefits for XRP may come indirectly. Permissioned Domains make it easier for compliant organizations to build on XRPL. If this spurs practical adoption such as decentralized exchanges with controlled access or asset Tokenize platforms, on-chain activity will increase.
If so, XRP would benefit from increased network usage, as XRP remains the underlying asset used to pay transaction fees and confirmations. Currently, Permissioned Domains should be viewed as a future infrastructure upgrade , rather than a catalyst to reverse XRP 's price trend.
The real test will be whether organizations can actually implement and create sustainable on-chain operations on the network.
