Key Takeaways
- Garlinghouse highlighted XRPL’s low fees and settlement speed.
- Researchers tested a data-verification system on XRPL DevNet.
- The proof of concept did not constitute BIS adoption of XRPL.
Garlinghouse Highlights XRP Ledger’s Technical Record
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reacted on Sept. 4 after the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published research describing a data-verification system implemented on the XRP Ledger. His comments followed broader predictions from Ripple executives that institutional adoption of XRPL could expand significantly in 2026.
Garlinghouse framed the network’s selection as a foreseeable result of its technical characteristics rather than an unexpected institutional experiment. His Sept. 4 response on X stated:
“Is it any surprise that BIS is testing with XRPL… low fees (check) fast settlement (check) and proven track record (check).”
The Ripple executive’s three-point checklist combined two features documented by the BIS researchers with his own assessment of XRPL. The paper cited low nominal fees and quick consensus finality, while his “proven track record” remark referred more broadly to the network’s operating history. The experiment measured how quickly XRPL could anchor and verify data, not payment settlement.
BIS Researchers Test XRPL for Verifiable Official Statistics
The Sept. 2 BIS working paper presented a proof-of-concept system for confirming the origin and integrity of official statistics distributed through Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange, or SDMX. The framework allows users to establish whether published information has been changed after its release.
The system converts each statistical dataset into a cryptographic fingerprint and combines multiple fingerprints through a Merkle tree before anchoring the resulting root on XRPL. Only that root is recorded onchain, while the underlying information remains offchain. The XRP Ledger uses a validator-based consensus process instead of proof-of-work mining.
Controlled tests produced median publication times of three to five seconds and verification times of one to two seconds. Researchers conducted every reported run on XRPL DevNet, a test network where XRP holds no real-world value, with synthetic datasets generated from public BIS statistical structures. A comparable mainnet transaction would carry a minimum fee of 10 drops, or 0.00001 XRP, under normal network conditions, according to the XRPL transaction-cost specifications. A drop is the smallest denomination of XRP, equal to one-millionth of a token.
The paper was written by Mario Rusev of d-fine Austria and BIS staff members Rafael Schmidt, Edward Lambe, Christian Schmieder, and Glenn Philip Tice. BIS working papers present the authors’ views and do not necessarily represent the positions of the institution or its member central banks.
Proof of Concept Stops Short of BIS Adoption
The experiment remains narrower than a production deployment or institutional adoption of the XRP Ledger. The BIS paper authors described the architecture as blockchain-agnostic, meaning another network could replace XRPL, and said the performance results did not establish resilience under sustained mainnet loads or adversarial conditions. Ripple is separately developing a broader XRPL infrastructure stack spanning tokenization, stablecoins, trading, custody, and credit.
The authors also outlined possible extensions involving regulatory information, economic-data oracles, tokenized instruments, and automated verification by artificial intelligence systems. Those concepts remain prospective, but XRPL already supports separate automated activity, including more than 1 million transactions attributed to AI agents. The BIS prototype’s reference implementation was released as open-source software.
