XRP Ledger orderbook volume jumped 79%, but the number of traders fell

XRP Ledger order book volume increased 79% year-on-year and daily trading accounts decreased 40%

According to the report, XRP Ledger order book daily trading volume reached 3.57 million XRP in Q2 2026, an increase of 79% compared to Q2 2025. At the same time, the number of daily order book trading accounts fell from 1864 to 1111, while the daily trading volume per account almost tripled. The average balance of RLUSD on XRPL increased 642% year-over-year to $539 million. The average value held on the books for the quarter was $4.26 billion.

data shows that in the three months to June, the number of accounts participating in transactions decreased, but trading activity became more concentrated and market concentration increased, even though the total value on the Internet continued to grow. The average daily trading volume of the order book increased to 3.57 million XRP from approximately 1.99 million XRP in the same period last year. During the same period, the average daily number of accounts initiating order book transactions dropped from 1864 to 1111, and the average daily transaction per participating account was 3217 XRP, compared with 1072 XRP a year ago. From this calculation, transaction volume per account increased nearly threefold, indicating that large orders offset the decline in the number of active participants.

XRP Ledger trading concentration increases

The report shows that in the second quarter of 2026, the average daily total trading volume of decentralized exchanges on XRP Ledger was 4.42 million XRP, an increase of approximately 20% compared with the same period in 2025. Among them, order-book transactions accounted for 81%, up from 54% in the same period last year. However, compared to the first quarter of 2026, total transaction volume fell by 16%. The report describes the first quarter as an abnormally active period, so to judge whether the trading rhythm in the second quarter can be sustained, it is necessary to combine annual and quarterly comparative data.

The average daily number of trading accounts on the XRP Ledger decentralized exchange dropped to approximately 2435, while the number of order book accounts dropped even more significantly, reaching 40%. The report did not identify specific traders, nor did it determine the proportion of remaining trading volume from institutions, market makers or automated strategies. The report believes that since the launch of licensed domains and licensed transaction functions in February 2026, institutional infrastructure may have driven this centralization trend. These instruments allow approved participants to trade in a controlled environment, but the report did not attribute specific trading volumes in the second quarter to these channels.

The decline in the number of accounts has also affected activities beyond transactions. The average daily number of trading accounts is 16587, and the average daily number of new accounts is 2783. Both indicators have dropped by about 25% year-on-year. The report compares the decline with weak activity on other encrypted networks. Data showed that on-chain transaction volume on the seven major programmable networks fell 46% year-on-year, while transaction fees paid on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism and Avalanche dropped a total of 38%. The report pointed out that the number of accounts is one of the most sensitive indicators of retail investors 'activity. Therefore, the simultaneous decline in multiple chains indicates that the decrease in participation in XRPL is part of the overall trading contraction in the market, rather than just due to the ledger's own conditions.

RLUSD liquidity accelerates on XRPL

Ripple USD activity became one of the areas with the largest year-on-year increases in the quarter. The report shows that the average balance of RLUSD on XRP Ledger reached $539 million, an increase of 642% from $73 million in the second quarter of 2025. During the same period, the value transferred through RLUSD increased by 925%, while XRP Ledger's share of the total stablecoin supply increased from 20% to 34%. The report uses quarterly averages, so its balance data of $539 million is different from subsequent point-in-point supply data.

As of the end of June, the supply of RLUSD on XRPL has reached approximately US$676.9 million. The stablecoin continued to expand after the end of the reporting period, with its circulating supply on the books exceeding US$1 billion on August 28, accounting for approximately 82% of the XRPL stablecoin market at that time. Less than two years after its launch in December 2024, Ripple's stablecoin also exceeded US$2 billion in late August on supported networks. When the total market value exceeded that level, approximately US$963 million was issued on XRPL and approximately US$1.05 billion was held on Ethereum.

Since RLUSD is designed to maintain the value of US$1, the increase in its market value mainly represents additional issuance rather than an increase in token prices. As of August 20, Ripple reported $1.98 billion in reserve assets and $1.87 billion in liquidity, and is independently audited monthly by Deloitte. Earlier in 2026, reports noted that RLUSD trading pairs have generated more than $2.5 billion in trading activity on XRPL since their launch. Among them, the RLUSD/XRP trading pair contributed approximately US$900 million in six months, while the stablecoin's share of on-chain transactions rose from less than 1% to approximately 12%.

Early liquidity survey results also showed that the monthly number of RLUSD transactions was close to 1 million. Every transfer or transaction settlement native to XRPL requires XRP to pay network fees, but the transaction activity itself does not directly reflect the lasting demand it brings for XRP tokens. In the second quarter, RLUSD also expanded to Base, Optimism, Ink, Unichain and XRPL EVM sidechains through Wormhole's native token transfer system. Ripple has previously supported the stablecoin natively on XRPL and Ethereum.

XRPL holds a new quarterly high

report shows that in the second quarter of 2026, the average hold value on XRP Ledger rose to US$4.26 billion, setting the highest quarterly reading in the report series. Six quarters ago, the figure was just $99 million. During this period, the indicator grew every quarter, even as trading participation weakened. This indicator includes the value represented by assets issued on the ledger, calculated separately from the total market value of XRP, which is calculated by tracking the supply of tokens in circulation multiplied by the market price.

Tokenized assets and stablecoins are the main drivers of growth. During the quarter, some assets of a tokenized U.S. Treasury fund took less than five seconds to settle on its books, but the time mentioned in the report only covered the blockchain link rather than the entire banking and payment process. Growth in RLUSD is an important part of asset growth, while XRP showed a strong market trend after the end of the second quarter. The token rose about 37% in August, rising from a 2026 low of $0.9874 on August 15 to a six-month high of $1.6963 on August 22, before falling back to the $1.35 to $1.50 range at the end of the month.

For the week ending August 28, US-listed spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded a net inflow of US$110.49 million, the highest in a single week in 2026. As of then, the cumulative net inflow of the seven funds exceeded US$1.66 billion, and the total transaction volume in August reached US$723 million.