Ripple CTO Proposes Fee Refunds and Stablecoin Payments for XRP Ledger

Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, proposed changes to the XRP Ledger's fee system. The plan would allow partial fee refunds, payments in assets other than XRP, and different fee rates for different users.

Current XRPL Fee Model

Currently, all transaction fees on the XRP Ledger are burned completely. Users set their own fee amount, and any payment above the minimum required gets destroyed permanently. The system uses fee burning to prevent spam attacks and network overload.

The base fee starts at 10 drops of XRP and increases during busy periods. When network demand is high, fees can multiply significantly above the minimum. All fees above the required minimum get burned regardless of network conditions.

Proposed Changes

Schwartz's proposal would change three aspects of the current system. First, users could receive partial refunds when network traffic is light. Instead of burning the entire overpayment, some portion would return to the sender. Second, users could pay fees using USD-pegged assets issued on the Ledger rather than only XRP. Third, certain accounts could qualify for lower fee rates based on their network participation duration or transaction volume.

Schwartz argues that users often pay more than necessary when network traffic is low. The current system cannot adjust fees downward once submitted, leading to overpayment during quiet periods.

Stop overpaying for transactions on the XRP Ledger,

Schwartz wrote when describing his plan.

The proposal comes as Ripple expands the ledger's support for other assets. The company recently launched USDC on XRPL and is working to attract more institutional users. Fee payments in USD-pegged assets could appeal to businesses that prefer predictable costs tied to traditional currencies.