Vibhu Norby, Head of Product Marketing at the Solana Foundation, claims he wishes for XRP to succeed, but the XRPL still lags in major metrics.
Notably, the XRP Ledger has been around for more than ten years, making it one of the earliest blockchain projects. However, its network has lagged in decentralized finance features.
XRPL DeFi Lags
This was largely due to how Ripple and other XRPL developers focused mainly on payments and efficiency in the early days. In recent years, the project has tried to catch up, eyeing smart contracts and staking, but its DeFi growth remains slower compared to newer competitors like Solana.
In his recent commentary, Norby said he genuinely wants Ripple and XRP to achieve massive success that could move the whole industry forward. However, he said many XRP proponents ignore data that clearly shows how far the project still has to go.
Concerning On-chain Numbers
Norby mentioned several figures from XRPScan to back his view. Specifically, he noted that daily active accounts on the XRPL have remained around 25,000 for the past three years, showing no major growth. In contrast, Solana now averages about 2.5 million daily active accounts, roughly 100 times more.
He admitted that XRP’s number of successful payments has risen by about 50%, reaching around 1.5 million daily transactions, but stressed that Solana handles about 100 million transactions every day.
He also compared their transfer volumes. According to the Solana Foundation manager, the XRPL moves between $50 billion and $60 billion monthly, while Solana’s stablecoin transfers alone reached nearly $2 trillion in October.
Norby kicked against circulating claims that Solana’s data comes from bots, saying both networks charge very low fees, so it doesn’t make sense to assume only one would attract automated activity.
XRP Could Still Succeed
Meanwhile, he admitted that the XRPL could still succeed in the long run but called its current growth “mediocre,” considering how long it has existed and how much value it represents. Norby then urged XRP investors to seriously consider how long they are willing to wait for real progress.
His comments triggered responses from XRP community members. One investor argued that Norby’s comparison ignored the long-term effects of Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC, which began in December 2020. He asked whether being wrongfully sued shouldn’t count as a major factor slowing XRP’s development.
Another community member, Theophane, pointed out that XRPL’s activity started to rise significantly after First Ledger launched, noting that the increase in volume was visible on the charts. This indicates that once the right projects start emerging, the XRPL could catch up in DeFi metrics.
He said XRP’s DeFi ecosystem is still young and developing, which explains why Solana currently leads in volume and engagement. Theophane suggested that investors should remain patient, saying the next wave of XRPL adoption is only beginning.
XRP Community Figure Presents Improving Data
Brandon Jackson, another XRP supporter, presented data to counter some of Norby’s claims. He cited Messari’s Q3 2025 report, which showed 75,600 total daily active accounts on XRPL, with 25,300 senders and 50,300 receivers, double the figures from Q3 2022.
The data you’re citing from @xrpscan is incomplete and misleading, it ignores the full Messari and Dune breakdowns and XRPL’s payment native design.
On daily active accounts; You said they hover at 25,000 with no 3-year improvement. Wrong. Messari Q3 2025 shows 75,600 total…
— Brandon Jackson (@BrandoJack315) November 1, 2025
He also mentioned that the network added 447,200 new addresses during the same period, a 46% increase quarter-over-quarter.
Jackson explained that XRPL’s design, which includes a one-XRP reserve and transaction fee burns, makes it resistant to bots, unlike Solana’s almost zero-cost system that encourages automated transactions.
He said XRPL now handles about one million payments daily, roughly 55–60% of its total 1.8 million daily transactions. This represents an 8.9% quarterly increase and a 430% growth over two years, totaling about 300 million payments this year, with the network on track to exceed 400 million by the end of 2025.
He also noted that Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity service processed $1.3 trillion in settlements during Q2 2025 through more than 300 partners, including Santander and SBI. He argued that Solana’s trading volume mostly comes from retail activity, DeFi swaps, and bot-driven trades, while XRP’s usage is primarily institutional.
Citing these metrics, Jackson insisted that the XRPL isn’t falling behind but rather growing stronger. He described it as an enterprise-grade, bot-resistant network that’s gaining speed, noting that transactions processed in 2025 already account for one-third of all payments in its history.
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