Exchange Ranking
Top Exchanges
24h Volume Ranking
Popularity Ranking
Exchange BTC Balance
Proof of Reserves
Decentralized Exchanges
Funding Rate
Funding Heatmap
Liquidation Data
Max Pain
Long/Short Ratio
Whale L/S Ratio
Binance/Okex/Huobi L/S
Bitfinex Margin L/S
ETF Tracker
Solana ETF
XRP ETF
Hong Kong ETF
Bitcoin Treasuries
Crypto Reversal
Ethereum Reserves
HyperLiquid Wallet Analysis
Hyperliquid Whale Watch
Large Transactions
On-chain Movement
Bitcoin ROI
Stablecoin Market Cap
Options Analysis
News
Articles
Economic Calendar
Features
Wallet
Contract Calculator
Security
Collections
Watchlist
Following
XRP Ripple's CTO responds to XRP Ledger's "ghost chain" questioning
Ripple's CTO David Schwartz recently responded to issues about trading activity and authenticity on XRP Ledger. Previously, the latest data from August 2026 showed that a small number of accounts accounted for the vast majority of online transactions, raising questions about the authenticity of the books.
XRP Ledger activity questioned
Social media user ScamDetective5 cited Bitquery data and pointed out that 93% of the transaction volume recorded on XRP Ledger last year was contributed by 793 accounts. The post described the accounts as bots or spammers and believed that actual human payment activity on the Internet accounted for less than 1%. Based on this, the review referred to XRP Ledger as a "ghost chain", meaning that the blockchain is considered to lack real and meaningful practical applications.
According to Bitquery, XRP Ledger has processed 5.06 billion transactions since its inception in 2013. In August 2026 alone, 793 accounts drove 93.2% of total transaction volume. In addition, estimates show that only 0.80% of the transaction volume reflects actual human-scale payments, while nearly half of active accounts sent only one transaction before becoming inactive. The median account balance on the network is just 12 XRP.
Glossary: Bitquery is a blockchain data analytics platform that provides real-time and historical insights into network transactions, token flows, and account activity.
Schwartz refutes the "ghost chain" argument
David Schwartz challenges the importance of the above data, particularly regarding the value judgments added to automated or low-value exchanges. He responded directly to online criticism that XRP Ledger's low-cost trading capabilities provide value and flexibility, allowing for a variety of practical and non-essential uses.
Schwartz said: "Yes, it's very cheap. Yes, you can use it to do useful things, or you can do useless things. If it costs more and few people do low-value operations on it, will that make it better?"
He pointed out that blockchain platforms that support cheap, fast transactions will naturally attract a wide range of activity types, not all of which will be deemed high value or necessary by observers. Schwartz suggests that increasing transaction costs to filter out less important uses will not automatically improve the quality of the network.
His response highlighted the ongoing debate over whether automation, robot-driven or low-value trading volumes should be interpreted as weaknesses or advantages. He believes such activities can also be seen as a sign of network accessibility and the ability to handle diverse workloads at scale.
Fee structure and network usage
Bitquery's analysis also reviews transaction fees accumulated since XRP Ledger's launch. Based on these data, all fees charged totaled approximately $7.6 million, and no specific individual or entity directly received these fees.
The conversation between ScamDetective5 and Schwartz has renewed community attention on how to assess the feasibility and relevance of blockchain, with different opinions on the role and significance of robot-driven or non-human activities.
The debate continues about the main criterion for evaluating blockchain: Is network usefulness measured by the number of payments initiated by humans, or by the system's ability to process a wide range of cheap transactions?
