The XRP Ledger (XRPL) just experienced one of the biggest crashes this year as on-chain data shows activity on the Ripple blockchain has dropped by 99%. While this looks like a big red flag, the drop is not yet having a significant impact the XRP priceThis suggests that the situation may not be as alarming as it seems.
Overview of Ripple’s XRP Ledger 99% Crash
Over the weekend, transaction activity in XRP Ledger fell sharply, dropping by approximately 99% within 48 hours. On closer inspection, the decline appears to be mainly due to timing and not a large decline technical problem in the ledger. Normally, cryptocurrency transaction volumes decrease on weekends. This is because many institutional traders and market makers reduce or completely stop trading on weekends, leading to reduced liquidity and lower payment volumes on the ledger.
Related reading
Particularly on-chain data from XRPScans revealed that XRPL payment volume between accounts fell from over 1.09 billion on Thursday, January 8 to 166.99 million on Saturday. This represents a huge one decrease in network usagewhich shows how much activity can decrease over a weekend. Payment volume has also yet to recover and has fallen further to approximately 137.40 million on January 11.
In addition to the volume decline, the number of trades executed on the XRP Ledger during that time frame also decreased. XRPScans showed that transactions decreased from more than 2 million on Thursday to 1.8 million on Saturday. This drop in both volume and transfers shows that even a small reduction in participation from large accounts or institutional users can significantly impact network metrics.
It is worth noting that the The XRP price is still trading above $2 and remains somewhat unaffected by the recent decline in network activity. While data from CoinMarketCap shows that its value has fallen by more than 4% in the past week, there is no clear evidence linking this to the recent 99% drop in the ledger.
Interestingly, the XRP Ledger registered a major just days before the crash increase in whaling transactionseach worth $100,000 or more. This suggests that, despite temporary network fluctuations, the XRP network is still experiencing substantial activity and involvement from major holders.
XRPL Developer Shares New Update for Ledger
Vet, an XRPL dUNL validator and developer, has done just that shared a new update on the XRP Ledger, showing that a large batch corrections and changess is now approaching the activation timer. This marks a crucial step for the blockchain network and promises to improve functionality and security for developers and users.
Related reading
Vet has stated that the upcoming changes will cover several key features including TokenEscrow, AMMClawback, Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPT), and Price Oracle. He emphasized that the XRP development team remains committed to keeping the ledger at the highest performance. He added that the team is also working hard to ensure that all features work smoothly regardless of the current market price of XRP.
Featured image from Freepik, chart from Tradingview.com