A new proposal from Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, could fundamentally reshape how the XRP Ledger (XRPL) operates.
Schwartz revealed a concept for a two-tier staking system in a public discussion on November 19, which aims to introduce staking rewards while preventing the centralization of power.
A Novel Approach to Network Security
The conversation began when XRP commentator WrathofKahneman raised concerns that staking would structurally validate Ripple’s already significant influence over the ledger, given that the company holds the largest supply of its native XRP token.
Schwartz responded with a preliminary solution, designed to leave the policing of staked funds to individual validators. Furthermore, he framed slashing, the penalizing of misbehaving validators, as a last resort rather than the main enforcement tool.
However, he acknowledged that this approach could lead to validators only accepting stakes from their “friends,” thereby creating new risks related to centralization.
To tackle that, Schwartz outlined a two-layer model based on a new governance token. Anyone could create such a token, which he stressed is meant to be “worthless” with rules to keep its circulation limited so it cannot gain any economic value. Holders of that token would collectively manage the validator list, replacing the Unique Node List (UNL) with a self-governing system.
In case the holders misbehave or collude, participants could “fork by governance,” essentially spinning up a new token and pointing their servers at it. Schwartz likened this approach to nuclear deterrence, which would be effective mostly because it is too painful to actually use, especially in a network with stablecoins, which cannot be easily forked.
Reaction to the staking proposal has been mixed. Some, like X user MiT@G0, called XRPL staking a “bizarre idea,” warning that a deflationary fee model and validator incentives could reignite “the old conflict of interest between users and validators.” Others reminded followers that amendment votes today focus on activation timing, with nodes still choosing which software to run locally.
XRP Market Pressure
While the technical discussion unfolds, XRP has hit a difficult patch in the market, with data obtained from CoinGecko at the time of this writing showing the token trading around $2.15, down roughly 10% over the past week.
Recent Glassnode data also revealed that only 58.5% of the XRP supply is currently in profit, the lowest level in a year, indicating a top-heavy market where many recent buyers are facing losses.
This price fragility exists despite a significant milestone: the launch of the first spot XRP ETFs in the United States. Canary Capital’s XRPC fund began trading last week and has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars, with products from Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, and others expected to follow soon.