Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz confirmed that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has fully recovered from a network outage that lasted over an hour on February 4, 2025. The disruption temporarily halted transaction validation, prompting an internal investigation into the root cause.
Key Details of the XRPL Outage
- Duration: 64 minutes (10:58 AM UTC until restart at block height 93927175)
- Impact: Approximately 88,000 delayed transactions (based on XRPL's average 2M daily transactions)
- Recovery: Validator nodes required manual intervention to restore consensus
👉 Explore real-time XRP Ledger analytics
Technical Analysis
Schwartz noted on X (formerly Twitter) that while consensus mechanisms remained operational, validators failed to publish updates—creating network desynchronization. "Node operators had to manually select a recovery point to reestablish ledger continuity," he stated. Preliminary observations suggest the network may have self-corrected, as only a minimal subset of Unique Node List (UNL) validators required adjustments.
Ripple's Assurance on Fund Safety
The @RippleXDev team emphasized that customer funds were never at risk during the incident. This aligns with XRPL's design, where transactions are cryptographically secured even during temporary validations pauses.
Market Reaction
- XRP Price: Briefly dipped to $2.45 (-3.2%) before recovering to $2.53
- Long-term Trend: Up 396% since November 5, 2024, outperforming most major cryptocurrencies
Decentralization Debate Resurfaces
The outage reignited discussions about XRPL's validator centralization, with critics contrasting its 35-node network against Ethereum's 1M+ active validators. Daniel Keller, CTO of validator operator Eminence, confirmed all nodes resumed normal operations post-outage.
Political Context
The incident occurred as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse advocates for XRP's inclusion in U.S. reserve assets, a proposal now under review by David Sacks, Crypto Lead for the Trump administration.
👉 Stay updated on crypto policy developments
FAQ: XRP Ledger Outage Explained
Q: Was this outage related to hacking or security breaches?
A: No evidence suggests malicious activity. The issue stemmed from technical consensus failures.
Q: How often do XRPL outages occur?
A: Major disruptions are rare—this marks the first significant outage since 2021.
Q: Does this affect XRP's utility for payments?
A: Temporary delays occurred, but XRPL's design ensures transaction integrity even during validations pauses.
Q: What measures is Ripple taking to prevent future outages?
A: The engineering team is implementing additional consensus safeguards and improving validator communication protocols.
Q: How does XRPL's uptime compare to other blockchains?
A: XRPL maintains >99.9% historical uptime, comparable to Ethereum and Solana.
Q: Should investors be concerned about XRP's reliability?
A: Market response suggests confidence remains strong, with prices recovering within hours.
For institutional-grade insights on blockchain resilience, visit OKX's research hub.