In its most recent XRP Markets Report, blockchain company Ripple reported that it sold XRP tokens — which power products produced by Ripple — worth more than $361 million in the first three months of the year, up from $226.31 million in the prior quarter.
Sales were made in connection with Ripple’s on-demand liquidity product, which enables users to send money internationally without the use of correspondent banking ties.
The decentralised exchange volume increased 34% from the fourth quarter to $115 million, reflecting continued robust XRP Ledger on-chain activity.
On-chain activity on XRPL remained strong this quarter, as transactions increased 9% to 116M, versus 106M from the previous quarter. NFTs continue to drive activity and over 1 million assets have been minted on the Ledger since XLS-20 went live on mainnet. This strong activity is also reflected in DEX volumes, which increased 34% versus last quarter to $115M. Note: the average cost per transaction in USD has been corrected on this table (for this and previous quarters) and continues to be more advantageous for users, compared to other blockchains.
In order to ensure that there is enough XRP on hand for the expanding on-demand liquidity business, Ripple claimed to have purchased it from the open market. By the end of the quarter, Ripple had sold a total of 0.44% of the world’s XRP.
Cyber Capital’s founder Justin Bons asserted that XRP’s permissioned blockchain architecture makes it centralised. David Schwartz, chief technology officer of Ripple, responded by claiming that XRPL achieves the same level of decentralisation as proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains, albeit in a different way. He clarified that transactions can only be censored for a brief time and that XRPL has no special right to alter the rules.
