Revolutionizing Transaction Fees on the XRP Ledger: Ripple’s Latest Innovations
In a recent live brainstorming session on X, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz unveiled two groundbreaking ideas for enhancing how blockchain networks, particularly the XRP Ledger, handle transaction fees. The discussion, which engaged developers, users, and protocol theorists, centered on enhancing fairness and efficiency while maintaining consensus and performance.
At present, XRP Ledger fees are dynamic but non-refundable – users pay to have their transactions included, with any excess fee above the minimum being burned. This system has sparked ongoing debates on overpayment, fairness, and incentive structures.
Schwartz’s first proposal involves calculating the exact fee required to add one additional transaction to the ledger post-consensus. Users who overpaid would receive a refund for the difference, ensuring that honest bidders are not penalized for bidding higher to ensure inclusion.
One idea is to compute the fee level required to get one more transaction into the ledger after the consensus transaction set is determined and rebate any fee above that level that any transaction tried to pay. You might have to tweak that a bit to make it not break consensus.
— David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 16, 2025
However, Schwartz acknowledged the challenge of reaching consensus among all validators on the post-consensus threshold without risking divergence. He believes this hurdle can be overcome with protocol adjustments, though it will require careful implementation.
Striving for Perfection
Schwartz’s second concept involves calculating the median fee of all accepted transactions per ledger and refunding any excess payment. While simpler to implement, this approach could still lead to overpayment if users all bid their maximum amount.
“Everyone overpays. That’s not ideal,” Schwartz remarked. The goal is to allow users to disclose their maximum bid without guessing the minimum, ensuring honesty does not result in financial loss.
While there is no set timeline for implementing either system, the open dialogue signals Ripple’s commitment to exploring improved fee structures.