01 / THE PURPOSE
What is XRP Ledger for?
The XRP Ledger supports native XRP transfers, issued assets and built-in exchange features. An issued dollar token is an issuer’s instrument; XRP itself is not a redeemable dollar claim.
02 / THE ARCHITECTURE
Three questions about the machinery.
How does it agree?
Consensus & securityServers choose Unique Node Lists of validators they trust to act independently. Sufficient agreement finalizes a ledger. Safe operation depends on compatible trust choices and the fault assumptions of that consensus.
Where do instructions run?
Execution modelNative transaction types implement payments and asset operations. Independent XRPL sidechains can have different execution and consensus rules; they are not identical to the main ledger.
03 / THE DESIGN CHOICES
What comes with the design?
Each architecture makes choices about security, performance, coordination, and who can participate.
Validator-list overlap and operator diversity matter to safety and continued progress.
Issued assets retain issuer, freeze and redemption risks even when their transfer settles correctly.
04 / IN PRACTICE
Follow one use.
Illustrative: sending XRP transfers the native asset. Sending an issuer’s USD token transfers a different claim whose redemption depends on that issuer.
05 / CHECK THE EXPLANATION
Sources & snapshot.
Network descriptions use the references below. The CoinMarketCap snapshot determines which assets are in scope and their captured rank; it does not assess the quality of a network.
- XRP Ledger · Concepts XRP Ledger
- XRP Ledger · Consensus protocol XRP Ledger
- CoinMarketCap top 100 snapshot Captured 14 Nov 2026 · See the complete scope audit
- XRP (XRP) on CoinMarketCap Captured asset rank #6
Profile checked 14 Nov 2026. Network designs and ranked positions can change.