Ripple’s XRP to scale up to 65,000 txps sooner than we expected

What is the number of XRP transactions per second

Update 19th September 2023: Ripple’s own website states 3400 tps and one should look to this as the baseline.

The matter of XRP transaction speed has been quite contentious. While a lot of people are saying that the platform has already scaled to 50,000 tps, it seems not to be entirely true at the moment but everything is already in place for when this scale is needed. To those on Crypto Twitter claiming XRP is at 50,000 tps today – either stick to the real current figure or quote the correct future scalable tps (or preferably both).

However, despite all the fuss about Ripple’s future scaling plans, let’s look at the true current XRP’s transaction speeds, the confirmed scalable tps and why the projected rates could be unnecessary in the near term.

What is the current XRP transaction speed

According to Ripple’s website, XRP already scales to handle 1,500 transactions per second consistently on chain and 24×7, and can scale to handle 65,000+ transactions per second in the future when needed – same as Visa’s maximum tps.

XRP is extremely scalable when compared to SWIFT which processes 24,000,000 transactions per day. Doing the maths, Swift is therefore able to handle 278 transactions per second with settlement times in the 1 to 5 days range compared to 4 seconds for XRP settlement times. RippleNet can therefore already trounce SWIFT today and with plenty of room to spare!

XRP is fast for transferring currencies globally

Payments moving across the XRP Ledger settle in 4 seconds.

Ripple’s impressive transaction speed makes it a real-time gross settlement system ideal for financial institutions such as banks and the much touted FUD about price volatility is a moot point due to the virtually instant settlement speeds.

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, said in an interview:

“An XRP transaction would still turn out to be less volatile if multiplied by 270,000 (which is just over 72 hours) in a conventional low-volatile asset like fiat and compared to a high-volatile asset like XRP with three to four seconds”.

David Schwartz, the CTO at Ripple, confirms that it takes from five to seven seconds for an XRP Ledger transaction to be irrevocably approved in RippleNet even with a minimum transaction fee (10 drops, or 0.0001 XRP). According to him, some factors that may slow XRP transaction include:

• The transaction could not have actually been sent to the network. For instance, if you request a withdrawal from an exchange or wallet program, the transaction may take longer as it may take time to get to the network.
• In instances of network congestion, the transaction pays a minimum fee. Nonetheless, this should not make a transaction take longer than 12 seconds longer than the typical 4-7 seconds. If you encounter this case, you can bump your transaction fee to 100 drops, 0.0001 XRP, and your transaction will be achieved.
• Poor network connectivity. Sometimes, the transaction may be confirmed but hasn’t been detected or processed by the application due to poor server connectivity

Off chain scaling XRP transaction times

We have heard about the Lightning Network aiming to scale Bitcoin off chain though this seems to still be a couple of year away from being workable if at all, whereas through the ILP (Inter Ledger Protocol) XRP is infinitely scalable off chain, capable of handling billions of transactions per second in theory.

Everything you need to know about RippleNet

RippleNet is an innovative technology that provides cross-border payment solution for institutional payment providers notably banks and money services businesses. Its native token XRP powers RippleNet and is used for representing the transfer of value across the Ripple Network.

Most crypto experts believe that XRP and the XRP Ledger is faster, less costly, and more scalable than any other digital asset in the market today. RippleNet customers can leverage XRP for sourcing liquidity in cross-border transactions instead of pre-funding. This ensures that transactions are settled instantly with lower exchange fees as well as more efficient use of working capital.

RippleNet technology can also be employed in other use cases such as peer-to-peer services, micropayments, exchanges, and e-commerce.

XRP based On Demand Liquidity already available in 25 countries!

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Mexico
• Philippines
• France
• Spain
• Australia
• Ireland
• Iceland
• Sweden
• Finland
• Norway
• Italy
• Germany
• Denmark
• Austria
• Czechia
• Slovakia
• Hungary
• Croatia
• Bulgaria
• Latvia
• Estonia
• Romania
• Greece

Wise Words: XRP, the bottom line

Ripple’s XRP transactions are undoubtedly the fastest in the market today. Within just four seconds, one can transact across borders through the RippleNet platform. The current minimum transaction cost required by the network for a standard transaction is 0.00001 XRP which is super cheap, right? The platform is also already capable of handling 1,500 transactions per second and is scalable to surpass Visa when necessary. All of this on chain and not even having to take into account all the off chain possibilities. XRP and RippleNet is undoubtedly the future!

Relevant news