- XRP Ledger (XRPL) has implemented a major update with slashed reserve requirements.
- The move, backed by key ecosystem developers, is poised to drive adoption.
In a recent update, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) account reserve fee has dropped by 90% to 1 XRP. A prominent XRP community member, Vet, posted the update on the X platform, stating, “XRP Ledger reserves just dropped. Activating an XRP account now costs 1 XRP.”
Implication for the XRPL Ecosystem
Notably, the XRPL previously required users to keep a reserve of 10 XRP in their accounts. This move aimed to keep spam and inactive accounts from overwhelming the ledger. However, some XRP supporters, including XRPL Labs founder WietseWind, argued that the restriction slowed the blockchain’s growth.
XRP Ledger reserves just dropped!
Activating an XRP account cost now 1 XRP
Holding a Token Trustline only 0.2 XRPExcessive XRP is now freed up in your account that you can spend now!! pic.twitter.com/zbvw0zLexd
— Vet (@Vet_X0) December 2, 2024
As revealed in a CNF report, Wind emphasized the difficulties of determining how many potential users are discouraged by the reserve requirement. Therefore, he voted to lower the 10 XRP reserve fee to just 1 XRP.
He said the reduction will help improve accessibility for users, particularly for those living in low-income regions.
Wind believes the 1 XRP fee would encourage projects and businesses to sponsor the reserve as an onboarding cost, encouraging new users to participate in the XRPL ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Wind is just one among the many others who advocated for a 90% reduction in the XRPL reserve fee. Last year, SpendTheBits launched an X poll, asking XRP community members to vote on what they believe is the right charge for activating a wallet on XRPL.
Remarkably, 54.3% of voters supported a 90% decrease in the account reserve cost to 1 XRP. In October 2024, several months after the community revealed its preference for this fee, Wind voted on a proposal to implement this requirement.
Besides reducing account reserve fees, VET noted that the reserve fee for trust lines, objects, or NFTs also dropped 90%. The fees were reduced from their initial value of 2 XRP to 0.2 XRP. Following this reduction, extra XRP coins previously locked in reserves are released into users’ on-chain wallets.
XRP Eclipse USDT
The 90% reduction in account and object reserve fees coincides with a rapid XRP price surge. XRP has moved to the third position in the MarketCap crypto hierarchy, displacing USDT. While XRP’s market capitalization stands at $149.83 billion, that of USDT comes behind at $134 billion.
As of writing, XRP’s price was trading at $2.67, up 12.85% within the last 24 hours and 90.4% in the past week. In the last 30 days, XRP’s price increased by over 424%, highlighting the coin’s surging momentum.
Amid this bullish movement, WisdomTree has applied for an XRP-based Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The planned ETF seeks to give investors controlled access to XRP.
If the fund and others from Bitwise, 21Shares, and Canary Capital are approved, the value of XRP is projected to surge higher with bigger institutional adoption.
