Ripple’s latest quarterly report highlights a significant increase in XRP Ledger (XRPL) transactions in Q1 2024. Transactions more than doubled from 121,031,713 in Q4 2023 to 251,397,881 by the end of Q1 2024, a 108% rise. During the same period, the average transaction fee on XRPL saw a substantial reduction, dropping by 45%.
In Q4 2023, the average fee peaked at $0.001546, primarily driven by extensive testing of inscriptions on the ledger in December. By the end of March 2024, the average transaction fee had fallen to $0.000856. Ripple indicated that this fee reduction suggests normalized activity, with no network congestion reported throughout Q1 2024.
Increase in DEX Trading Volume
In addition, XRP transaction volume on XRPL’s decentralized exchange (DEX) experienced a 5% growth quarter-over-quarter. The DEX recorded an XRP trading volume of $57,618,270 in Q1 2024, up from $54.9 million in the previous quarter.
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Moreover, the number of XRP tokens burned for transaction fees doubled in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023. XRPL incinerated 636,184 XRP in Q1, a 101% increase from the 317,271 XRP burned in the previous quarter.
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However, the XRP ecosystem saw a decline in the creation of new wallets. The number of new wallets decreased by 11%, with 185,809 new XRP wallets created in Q1 2024, down from 208,522 in Q4 2023.
Validator Insights
Vet, an XRPL dUNL validator, commented on these statistics, noting the intriguing contrast between the slower growth in new wallets and the surge in transactions. He suggested that this trend indicates existing users are engaging more actively with the network. Meanwhile, the market value of XRP fell by 5% quarter-over-quarter. The average price of XRP dropped from $0.59 in Q4 2023 to $0.56 by the end of Q1 2024.
Ripple’s report also provided an update on the company’s XRP reserves. As of December 31, 2023, Ripple’s liquid XRP balance was 5,077,658,695, with an additional 40.7 billion XRP held in escrow. By the end of Q1 2024, Ripple’s spendable XRP had decreased to approximately 4.84 billion, and the escrowed amount had reduced to 40.1 billion.
Through these insights, Ripple’s latest report sheds light on the dynamic shifts within the XRP ecosystem in the first quarter of 2024.
