The XRP Ledger (XRPL) experienced an impressive first quarter with a significant increase in transactions and active addresses, according to data from Messari. The network recorded 2.7 million transactions during this period, representing a 113% quarter-on-quarter growth. Additionally, the average daily active addresses rose by 37%.
One of the main drivers behind this surge in activity was the introduction of inscriptions, a feature first introduced by the Bitcoin blockchain in 2023. Inscriptions have now been adopted by various blockchain networks, including XRPL. In late 2023, the XRP Script Project implemented inscriptions on XRPL, resulting in a four-year high of 4.11 million transactions in 24 hours.
While the number of active addresses increased, it has not yet reached the levels seen in the first quarter of the previous year. However, the total number of addresses on XRPL has grown by 3% in the past three months, reaching 5.15 million.
Interestingly, there was a significant increase in payment transaction activity during Q1 without a corresponding rise in active addresses. This suggests that users were making more payments on average. In one particular week, XRPL recorded 22 million payments. Messari attributes this trend to the rise of inscriptions and predicts that it will eventually stabilize.
Looking ahead, XRPL still lags behind other major networks like Solana and Ethereum in terms of decentralized finance (DeFi). The market cap of issued currencies on XRPL decreased by over 10% to $142 million in Q1. While it is relatively easy to launch tokens on XRPL, attracting investor interest has proven to be a challenge.
Sologenic’s SOLO token dominates the DeFi market cap on XRPL, accounting for over 40% of the total. Combined with Coreum and Gatehub Fifth, these three tokens make up two-thirds of the entire ecosystem’s market cap.
In terms of trading, XRP has remained relatively stable, with a current price of $0.53. Its volatility has been low over the past week, with only a 0.2% decrease.
In summary, XRPL had a strong first quarter with significant growth in transactions and active addresses. The introduction of inscriptions played a crucial role in driving this activity. However, XRPL still faces challenges in the DeFi space and has yet to attract significant investor interest.