An XRP Holder Proposed Raising Ledger Fees 100x to Burn More Tokens. Ripple’s CTO Emeritus Says Fee Revenue Is the Wrong Metric.
A proposal to hike XRP Ledger transaction fees up to 100 times is gaining attention on social media, but Ripple's original architect warns that chasing a faster token burn could undermine the very thing that makes XRP worth holding in…
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Recently, an XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) holder made a bold proposal on X, suggesting that XRP Ledger fees be raised 10 to 100 times to enable a larger XRP burn with each transaction. Burning tokens reduces the total supply, a move many holders support because it could increase the value of their remaining tokens.
However, David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer Emeritus and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, criticized this approach. He described the idea that higher fees help the ecosystem as “truly bizarre,” arguing that fee revenue is not a reliable measure of a blockchain’s effectiveness. But is it worth considering a more expensive ledger for the sake of burning tokens faster?
Every XRP Transaction Burns a Tiny Fee
Each transaction on the XRP Ledger incurs a small fee that is paid in XRP. Instead of distributing this fee to validators—the independent servers that determine the validity of transactions—the ledger destroys it, permanently removing a small amount of XRP from circulation with every transaction.
Currently, the standard transaction fee is 0.00001 XRP, which is a tiny fraction of a cent based on XRP’s value of $1.51 as of October 6. Even if fees were raised 100 times, this would only result in a fee of 0.001 XRP, or roughly $0.0015 per transaction.
With approximately 63.1 billion XRP tokens in circulation, valued at around $95.4 billion, such a small increase in fees would hardly make a noticeable dent in the overall supply. On the surface, a 100-fold fee hike could lead to quicker burns without substantially affecting the overall token supply in a way that holders would notice.
Higher Fees Would Make XRP Users Pay to Reward Holders
The individual initiating the transaction pays the fee. Therefore, raising fees to increase the burn rate essentially shifts the cost onto network users, benefiting holders who may not be transacting at all. This could transfer value from active users to passive holders without producing any real gains for the network.
Additionally, higher fees contradict one of the XRP Ledger’s main selling points: affordable, fast settlement. Payment processors and remittance companies closely evaluate transaction costs when selecting a network, so a ledger that suddenly becomes 100 times more expensive might drive them to seek alternatives. Moreover, users who exit the network wouldn’t burn any XRP at all.
Why David Schwartz’s Case Against Higher XRP Fees Holds Up
Although Ripple is one of the largest holders of XRP, Schwartz argues against raising fees, believing they do not reflect a blockchain’s success. High transaction fees make a network less user-friendly, which undermines its appeal. Established payment networks thrive on affordability and reliability, and settlement ledgers should follow the same principles.
So far, this proposal remains a topic of discussion on social media. Changes to XRP Ledger fees can only occur if validators vote to approve new fee levels, and as of now, this idea hasn’t progressed to that point.
Is a Higher XRP Burn Worth Increased Fees?
In conclusion, the potential for a larger XRP burn does not justify higher fees. Such a change would sacrifice the ledger’s core advantage in favor of a marginally faster burn rate from a minimal baseline. Users would bear the burden of increased costs while businesses looking to adopt the network might be deterred. Ultimately, a more active and cost-effective ledger will lead to more XRP burns as a byproduct of increased usage.
Currently, XRP trades at 58.6% below its record of $3.65 from July 2025, and a fee increase is unlikely to close that gap. Should a fee hike focused on burning XRP ever come to a vote among validators, it would pose a governance challenge for holders, but until then, it’s merely a point of conversation.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
