XRP Ledger sits at 46% node adoption six days before May 27 amendment goes live

The XRP Ledger is approaching a key infrastructure deadline. The fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment entered a two-week activation period and is expected to go live on May 27, 2026. As of May 19, 46% of the network's 846 nodes had upgraded to XRPL version 3.1.3, up from 40% just two days earlier.

What the Amendment Fixes

The update is focused on stability rather than new features. The fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment is a collection of fixes covering NFTs, Permissioned Domains, Vaults, and the Lending Protocol. Specifically, it resolves issues with expired NFT offers lingering on the ledger, enforces trust line token limits during vault withdrawals, and corrects loan accounting entries that failed to update correctly after a loan was defaulted, impaired, or unimpaired.

Nodes that miss the deadline face a tangible penalty. Validators running older software may face amendment blocking and lose normal transaction processing access. The parties most at risk are exchanges, market makers, and DEX front-ends operating their own servers, all of which could find themselves cut off from the network on activation day if they have not upgraded.

Validators Aligned, Fork Fears Dismissed

Despite the slow uptick in general node adoption, the picture at the consensus layer looks very different. All 35 validators on the dUNL, the default Unique Node List that drives practical consensus for nearly every $XRP user, have voted in favor of the amendment. The dUNL refers to the set of validators included in the recommended lists published by the XRP Ledger Foundation and Ripple, and the network will never confirm transactions unless a supermajority of more than 80% agree.

Ripple co-creator David Schwartz (@JoelKatz) addressed concerns over a potential chain split over the weekend. Schwartz explained that a raw percentage split among validators does not automatically dictate the outcome, and that the survival of a forked chain relies entirely on the Unique Node List. He argued that a plausible fork would require at least a half dozen people willing to run validators on a competing chain, something he viewed as unlikely given current conditions. Nodes that do not upgrade may fall out of step with the active network rules, but that is a service disruption issue, not a chain split.

With six days remaining, the pressure is now on the slower movers to act before the May 27 deadline.

Sources:
XRPL Validators Face May 27 Deadline as Upgrade Nears Activation (crypto.news)
XRP Ledger Upgrade Enters Final Phase Ahead of May 27 Deadline (Coinpedia)
Unique Node List (UNL) (XRPL.org Official Documentation)