Ripple Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David Schwartz clarified concerns about Ripple’s potential manipulation of the XRP (XRPL) ledger. This occurred when a user noticed that the crypto company controlled most of the unique node lists (UNLs) and users had no way to change them.
Ripple’s CTO clarifies doubts about manipulation regarding the XRP ledger
In Post XRipple’s CTO stated that UNL influences the way the network progresses and that wallets simply observe it. He also pointed out that manipulation by Ripple was almost impossible because XRP ledgers stops if nodes do not match validators in the unique node lists.
Schwartz was responding to the user who asked that public XRP-GUI wallets allow XRP holders to change the validators they can trust beyond the UNL provided by Ripple. The user further noted that none of the GUI wallets he downloaded gave him the ability to change trusted validators.
He added that the only way he has found to invoke XRP ledger neutrality is to run your own node/validator and modify the configuration file. This also led to the question of how neutrality can be achieved if the average user cannot change the validators used. The user also noted that there is nothing stopping Ripple from manipulating the network since 99% of XRP holders depend on UNL is published by a crypto company.
However, as the CTO noted, nodes still must agree to utilize these validators before transactions can be processed, unless the network comes to a halt. Meanwhile, Ripple is not the only company that publishes UNL because XRP Ledger Foundation it also publishes lists of validators from which nodes/servers can choose.
XRPL Validator action view
In Post XXRP validator Ledger Vet noted that UNL only makes sense in the context of nodes, the servers/computers that make up the network, similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum. He further noted that someone who owns only XRPL account you can’t choose UNL because they will need a node for that.
He added that only node operators can actually participate in the governance of any protocol. The vet was alluding to the fact that nodes are like miners and players proof of work or proof-of-stake networks that are the only ones, not the holders, that influence network decisions.
However, this development again raises concerns about the manner in which XRP Ledger decentralizationgiven that Ripple publishes most of the UNL. Although nodes can choose their validators, these options are still considered restricted as they have to choose from validators proposed by Ripple or the XRP Ledger Foundation.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading around $2.44, up over 3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
Editorial process for bitcoinist is focused on providing thoroughly researched, exact and unbiased content. We adhere to stringent sourcing standards, and each page is carefully reviewed by our team of top technology experts and experienced editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance and value of our content to our readers.
