Proponents Suggest Incentives for XRPL Validators, Ripple CTO Responds

One individual suggested that validators receive a portion of XRP Ledger (XRPL) transaction fees as incentives instead of getting funds from Ripple.

Certain XRP proponents have suggested that the ecosystem should provide extra incentives to validators on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to encourage them to remain on the network. These calls have arisen due to speculation that several validators are departing from the XRP Ledger in large numbers.

Claims of XRPL Validator Exodus

Jungle Inc, a pseudonymous XRP community member, and prominent crypto YouTuber, recently called attention to a growing pattern among validators on the XRP Ledger. According to him, independent developers have been shutting down their XRPL validators recently, and something should be done about the trend.

Jungle Inc discloses this in a recent tweet, directing it to Monica Long, Ripple’s President; David Schwartz, CTO at Ripple; and the XRPL Developers account.

@MonicaLongSF @JoelKatz @RippleXDev

It seems like we have a significant issue.

Independent Devs are shutting down their validators. I think a flood is coming in this regard.

Is there a reason why we don't have funding for necessary infrastructure?

— Jungle Inc (@jungleincxrp) April 17, 2023

Notably, the YouTuber raised this alarm following a decision made by the operator behind the prominent rippleitin.nz validator to exit the XRP Ledger by the end of April. Jungle Inc noted that Ripple should address the escalating pattern unless they are looking to pivot away from XRP.

Calls for Incentives

Although some proponents have urged Ripple to offer financial assistance to tackle the issue, others have opposed such a proposal. ‘Each and every time someone valuable leave, there are voices that “Ripple should do something” […] But do we really want Ripple to be involved in everything? Should it be XRPL last resort?’ an XRP community member asked.

In response to this statement, Leonidas, who serves as the host of the XRP Arcade YouTube channel, opined that Ripple’s intervention is not necessary. Instead, he proposed that a fraction of the transaction fees be allocated to UNL validators. These validators are regarded as trustworthy by the community based on their performance record. As it stands, there are currently 36 UNL validators.

Ripple doesn't have to get involved. If a fraction of transaction fees went to UNL validators then there would be incentive to run validators.

— Leonidas (@LeoHadjiloizou) April 19, 2023

Ripple CTO Responds

Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz, noted that such incentives would likely fuel competition among validators as they strive to secure the largest slice of transaction fees. “But validators wouldn’t want other people to run awesome validators because they would be competing with each other for fees,” he said.

But validators wouldn't want other people to run awesome validators because they would be competing with each other for fees.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 19, 2023

Some members of the XRP community have expressed the view that this kind of competition could have a positive impact on the Ripple network, as it would motivate validators to improve their performance to secure a share of transaction fees.