Ripple, the company behind the cryptocurrency XRP, recently faced scrutiny after influencer Andrei Jikh questioned its transparency and project claims.
Jikh publicly expressed doubts about Ripple’s claim of having over 300 bank partnerships in its 13 years of operations, citing a lack of verifiable onchain data to support this assertion.
In response, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, engaged with the critique by addressing multiple questions on transparency, onchain data, and institutional adoption of XRP Ledger (XRPL).
Schwartz emphasized that many financial institutions have historically preferred offchain transactions for digital assets, noting that even Ripple itself does not exclusively use decentralized transactions on XRPL.
Onchain Adoption and Institutional Use
While institutional movement towards onchain adoption is increasing, Schwartz acknowledged that progress has been slow. Ripple’s avoidance of the decentralized exchange (DEX) on XRPL for payments is attributed to concerns about potential terrorist financing risks.
He suggested that features such as permissioned domains might provide solutions to these compliance and security challenges, though details remain sparse.
Understanding XRPL and Its Reach
The XRP Ledger, launched in 2012, is an open-source decentralized blockchain underpinning XRP. Marketed as a decentralized public blockchain meant for business, XRPL has formed key enterprise partnerships, including tokenization projects with the Dubai government and Guggenheim investment firm announced in mid-2025.
Despite these collaborations, transparent onchain metrics reflecting actual transaction volumes are still limited, with platforms like DeFiLlama reporting comparatively modest total value locked (TVL) of $81.8 million for XRPL DeFi apps.
Schwartz clarified that much of institutional activity occurs offchain, meaning it often escapes onchain tracking tools.
Recent Decline in XRPL Onchain Activity
Following significant growth in 2024, Ripple reported a 30% to 40% decline in XRPL’s new wallet creations and overall transaction volumes in the first quarter of 2025, mirroring downward trends seen across major blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, the XRPL’s DeFi segment has shown more resilience, with decentralized exchange volumes only declining by 16% quarter-over-quarter.
Evolving Transparency Reporting
With evolving market engagement, Ripple announced the discontinuation of its XRP Markets Report in its current form starting from Q2 2025, promising ongoing transparency via official channels such as Ripple and RippleXDev.
The company expressed optimism that increased institutional involvement will bring new perspectives and insights to XRP market discussions.
Coinstelegram reached out to Ripple for additional commentary on XRPL volume tracking but had not received a response at the time of publication.
