RippleX has opened an important conversation in the XRP community, as its engineering team considers how native staking could eventually work on the XRP Ledger.
Notably, the XRPL has operated for more than a decade, yet it still trails other networks in DeFi because of its underlying technology. For instance, the ledger uses a Proof-of-Authority model instead of the Proof-of-Stake approach that powers most modern DeFi platforms.
RippleX Exploring Native XRP Staking on XRPL
As a result, the XRPL does not support staking, and the system burns transaction fees rather than distributing them to validators. Now, RippleX engineers want to examine if staking can fit within the XRPL’s design.
Ayo Akinyele, Head of Engineering at RippleX, opened the discussion through a thread on X. He explained that the launch of the first XRP spot ETF, along with expectations of more products, shows that the ecosystem has entered a new phase as institutions adopt tokenized treasury products and money-market funds.
According to Akinyele, this change triggered conversations between him and Ripple CTO David Schwartz about whether the XRPL could one day support native staking and what the system would require to achieve this.
On the approach to take, Akinyele noted that the XRPL cannot copy the staking model used by Proof-of-Stake networks. He pointed out that XRP burns fees, settles payments quickly at low cost, and gives every validator an equal vote regardless of token holdings.
Because the XRPL does not link validator power to economic incentives, staking would need to serve an entirely different purpose.
He pointed out that staking would also require a clear reward source and a fair distribution method, and both elements would decide how value flows across the network. The engineering head stressed that the conversation remains exploratory and aims to show what might change and what must remain the same.
Ripple Executives Respond
Adding to the discussion, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse commended Akinyele’s effort and encouraged the community to think about what the XRPL could support as new XRP-based DeFi projects continue to appear.
In response, David Schwartz noted how much the blockchain industry has changed since the XRPL launched in 2012.
He said that his views on consensus and governance have also changed over time and that he has recently revisited how XRP works in DeFi, both through off-chain ecosystems such as Flare, MoreMarkets, Axelar, and Doppler, and through native on-chain activity.
With programmability efforts and smart contract discussions underway, Schwartz believes this moment presents an opportunity to consider what additional native DeFi features might look like.
Two Technical Possibilities
However, an XRPL dUNL validator known as Vet shared his own concerns. He questioned how staking fits into a network that does not use Proof-of-Stake and asked what practical problem it would solve.
Responding, Schwartz presented two technical possibilities. The first idea would add a second, incentivized inner layer: an inner set of validators, roughly 16, chosen by the outer layer according to stake, with staking and slashing used only to advance the ledger.
The second idea would keep the existing consensus intact but use transaction fees to fund zero-knowledge proofs that vouch for correct smart-contract execution, so nodes would not have to run contracts themselves.
The Ripple CTO called both concepts clever on a technical level but warned they probably would not make for practical or healthy changes in the near term.
Emerging Concerns Around Introducing Native XRP Staking
Meanwhile, in a separate commentary, Vet warned that adding staking rewards could create misalignment between users and validators, which might push fees higher.
He also raised questions about who would receive the rewards and warned that redistributing fees could introduce governance issues, Sybil risks, and validator clustering as operators search for lower operating costs.
Akinyele then addressed each of these concerns. Specifically, he reiterated that the XRPL does not rely on stake-based influence and that validators do not compete for block production, so staking cannot play any role in consensus.
He noted that the ledger avoids tension between users and validators by treating fees purely as anti-spam charges. The RippleX engineer warned that introducing incentives would push the XRP Ledger toward behaviors it originally avoided.
He also explained that only UNL validators participate in consensus and that paying either everyone or only the UNL could create new risks or encourage operators to game the system.
Akinyele added that incentives might even push validators to cluster in cheaper data centers, which would work against XRPL’s goals of resilience and decentralization.
Meanwhile, community contributor WrathofKahneman argued that staking would carry a major structural impact because Ripple holds the largest amount of XRP. He suggested that such a setup could increase Ripple’s influence over governance and make amendment approvals easier if staking became tied to voting power.
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