The XRP Ledger (XRPL) just experienced one of its biggest crashes this year, as on-chain data shows activity on the Ripple blockchain fell by 99%. While this may sound like a major red flag, the drop has yet to have a significant impact on the price of XRP, suggesting that the situation may not be as alarming as it seems.
Preview Ripple’s XRP Ledger 99% Crash
Over the weekend, XRP Ledger transaction activity dropped sharply, dropping by approximately 99% in 48 hours. On closer inspection, the decline appears primarily due to timing rather than a major technical issue in the ledger. Usually, cryptocurrency trading volumes decrease on weekends. This is because many institutional traders and market makers reduce their trading or stop altogether over the weekend, leading to lower liquidity and payment volumes on the ledger.
Notably, on-chain data from XRPScans revealed that XRPL’s cross-account payment volume increased from over 1.09 billion on Thursday, January 8 to 166.99 million on Saturday. This represents a massive drop in network usage, showing just how much activity can drop over the course of a weekend. Payment volume has yet to recover, still falling to around 137.40 million as of January 11.
In addition to the drop in volume, the number of transactions executed on the XRP Ledger during this period also decreased. XRPScans showed that transactions fell from over 2 million on Thursday to 1.8 million on Saturday. This drop in volume and transfers shows that even small reductions in participation by large accounts or institutional users can significantly affect network metrics.
It is worth noting that XRP price is still trading above $2 and remains somewhat unaffected by the recent drop in network activity. Although data from CoinMarketCap shows its value has fallen more than 4% over the past week, there is no clear evidence linking this to the ledger’s recent 99% decline.
Interestingly, just days before the crash, the XRP Ledger saw a significant increase in whale transactions, each valued at $100,000 or more. This suggests that, despite temporary network fluctuations, the XRP network continues to see substantial activity and engagement from major holders.
XRPL developer shares new update for Ledger
Vet, an XRPL validator and developer from UNL, shared a new update on the XRP Ledger, revealing that a large number of fixes and changes are now approaching their activation timer. This is a crucial milestone for the blockchain network, promising to improve functionality and security for developers and users.
Vet said the upcoming changes cover several important features, including TokenEscrow, AMMClawback, Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPT), and Price Oracle. He emphasized that the XRP development team remains committed to maintaining the ledger at its highest performance. He added that the team is also working diligently to ensure all features work smoothly regardless of the current market price of XRP.
