The XRP Ledger said in a press release on December 2 that it had slashed its reserve requirements by a whopping 90%. Before, one had to claw 10 XRP to open a new wallet by setting up afloat on an inert reserve of the same digital asset. After this update, the wallets can be opened and funded with as little as 1 XRP, making the blockchain more popular with more users.
The change, implemented at 10: was corroborated by a pseudonymous XRP validator operator to an X. This is part of the ongoing XRPL user experience enhancements, specifically to address concerns staking may raise among new users with higher initial reserve requirements. Further, the update enables users to use their XRP, which was hitherto held in reserve accounts, a feature that makes the network even more useful.
Apart from the adjusted wallet funding needed for account-held items like NFTs and trust lines, the owner reserve was also halved from 2 XRP to 0.2 XRP. This reduction seeks to make operations on the XRP Ledger more straightforward and understandable, especially for anyone who wants to interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) or tokenization.
XRP Ledger Reserve Reduction: A Step Toward Greater Accessibility Amid Concerns
The reserve system, described in XRP Ledger’s documentation, was initially meant to keep bots and the continuous creation of new ledgers on a leash. However, those criticizing the previous reserve system stated that 10 XRP created a barrier for new users with a slow adoption rate.
The reserve requirements were reduced in October after discussions with the developer community headed by XRP Ledger developer WietseWind. Nodes of XRPL Labs were then set to start voting for the change, and as developers and the community realized how the barriers had been eased, the change received support.
Most developers are, however, constructive about the change, and some of the concerns raised are about abuse since the reserve system also helps handle congestion from spam or malicious accounts. That said, certain concerns are still being raised about the recent update before the community continues to have a positive outlook on this move, as more are seeing the update as a push to get more recognized in XRP Ledger.
The change fits the continuous pursuit of the XRP community to foster an appealing environment for individual users and developers. This way, XRP seeks to connect with more market stakeholders and grow its ecosystem in response to the demand for blockchain solutions.
The decrease in reserve requirements occurs during a growing interest in XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency. The coffee-fueled digital asset has rallied to $.265, its highest value in almost a year and a half since February 2018. Expectations of XRP’s potential have buoyed this new upsurge as the most effective digital currency despite the legal cases against it and the SEC.
The San Francisco-based company Ripple, behind the XRP token, is in a lawsuit with the SEC, categorizing XRP as a security. Ripple has refuted these allegations and is seeking to fight a $125 million fine imposed by the SEC. Nonetheless, the price of XRP has been on the rise. Monday saw a 30% jump in its price. The token has subsequently moved ahead of USDT to become the third most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
As of the time of writing this article, XRP is priced at $2.63, a 77% increment in the past week and an incredible 375% in the last month. Its market value has now reached $137.4B and is continuing apace as it dominates other dominant crypto assets, such as Solana, which XRP had recently pulled ahead of over the weekend.
