Every transaction on the XRP Ledger destroys a small amount of XRP permanently. This deflationary burn mechanism is central to XRPL's design.

Why Does XRP Burn Fees?

Unlike proof-of-work blockchains where miners collect transaction fees, or proof-of-stake networks where validators earn fees, the XRP Ledger takes a different approach: all transaction fees are irrevocably destroyed. This serves two purposes — it deters spam by making mass transaction flooding economically costly, and it slowly reduces the total XRP supply over time.

How Much XRP Has Been Burned?

Since the XRP Ledger launched in June 2012, more than 14.3 million XRP have been burned through transaction fees. While this is a fraction of the 100 billion XRP created at genesis, the burn rate accelerates with adoption. As activity climbs toward and beyond 200 transactions per ledger, the exponential fee curve burns XRP at an increasing rate.

The Mechanics of Burning

When a transaction is signed, the signer specifies an exact Fee field. Once the transaction is included in a validated ledger, that exact amount is deducted from the sender's XRP balance and destroyed — it ceases to exist in the ledger's global state. There is no recipient. The XRP is gone forever.

Burn Rate During Network Congestion

In March 2026, when XRPL activity neared 200 transactions per ledger, Ripple CTO David Schwartz explained the exponential fee curve: fees rise sharply once demand slightly exceeds capacity. This means burn rates spike during periods of high activity, accelerating deflation exactly when the network is most stressed.

Impact on XRP Supply

The original XRP supply was capped at 100 billion. With no new XRP created (no mining), and fees continuously burning supply, the total circulating supply can only decrease over time. This contrasts sharply with inflationary networks where new tokens are issued as block rewards.

Burn vs. Reserve

It's important to distinguish burned XRP from reserved XRP. Reserve requirements temporarily lock XRP as collateral for ledger objects — this XRP can be recovered by deleting those objects. Burned fees, by contrast, are gone permanently and cannot be recovered under any circumstances.