XRP Ledger Hits 7.7M Holders for the First Time in 13 Years

How Many Holders Does the XRP Ledger Have Now?

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) has crossed 7.7 million holders for the first time since its launch in 2012, according to on-chain analytics platform Santiment. The milestone, measured by non-empty wallets, marks the highest holder count in the network's 13-year history. 

On the same day the figure was reported, active addresses on the network hit 46,767, the highest reading in five weeks, while XRP's price climbed 14% in a 48-hour window, briefly breaching the $1.60 level.

What Is Driving XRPL's Growth?

The XRP Ledger's architecture has long been positioned around speed, low transaction costs, and an energy-efficient consensus mechanism. Unlike proof-of-work blockchains, XRPL uses a federated consensus model where a network of validators agrees on transaction validity without mining. This design enables near-instant settlement, typically within three to five seconds, with fees that remain a fraction of a cent per transaction.

Those technical characteristics are increasingly relevant in the context of institutional use cases. From March 30, the European Central Bank will begin accepting tokenized collateral, and XRPL's infrastructure has been identified as part of that process. That establishes the ledger within Europe's formal financial system in a concrete, operational capacity rather than a speculative one.

The network's daily transaction count also recently crossed 2.7 million, adding another data point to a pattern of sustained on-chain activity growth.

What About XRPL's Recent Technical Update?

Ripple recently released version 3.1.2 of the XRP Ledger software. The update addresses critical security vulnerabilities, including a specific issue that could cause validator servers to crash or restart unexpectedly. Security patches of this kind are routine for active blockchain networks but carry operational significance for institutions relying on consistent uptime, particularly in settlement or collateral contexts.

How Are US Spot XRP ETFs Performing?

The holder milestone and price movement arrive during a difficult stretch for US spot XRP ETFs. The funds recorded eight consecutive trading sessions without a single net positive inflow day, the longest such streak since the products launched in November 2025. The outflow period ran from March 5 through March 116, with March 9 being the worst session at -$18.11 million. Grayscale's GXRP led outflows on that day at -$5.86 million, followed by Franklin Templeton's XRPZ at -$4.46 million.

Despite the streak, cumulative net inflows across all five US spot XRP ETFs remain at $1.20 billion as of March 16, with total net assets at $1.07 billion, representing 1.14% of XRP's market cap. Canary Capital's XRPC leads with $419.44 million in cumulative inflows, followed by Bitwise at $369.86 million and Franklin Templeton at $321.54 million. The outlier is 21Shares' TOXR, which sits at -$23.87 million in cumulative net inflows across its entire operating life.

Conclusion

The XRP Ledger's 7.7 million holder count is a measurable outcome of sustained network activity, not a one-day spike. Active addresses at a 5-week high, daily transactions crossing 2.7 million, and confirmed integration into the European Central Bank's collateral framework all point to a network with growing real-world utility. The ETF outflow streak is a counterweight worth watching, but at $1.21 billion in cumulative inflows, the broader institutional position remains intact. The data across both on-chain metrics and traditional investment products tells a more complete story than either number does alone.

Resources

1. Santiment on X: Post on March 17

2. XRPL blog article: Introducing XRP Ledger version 3.1.2

3. XRP spot ETF data on SoSoValue platform: XRP spot ETFs net inflows

4. Report by DL News: Report on XRP superfan community sustaining ETF inflows through price slump, including quotes from Eric Balchunas and Matt Hougan