BIS Tests XRP Ledger for Tamper-Evident Official Statistics
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has tested the XRP Ledger to make official statistics tamper-evident, using blockchain hashes to verify data origin and integrity.
In a proof of concept, BIS researchers created a fingerprint for each dataset, combined multiple fingerprints into a Merkle root, then anchored that summary value on XRPL. A signed credential identifies the publisher, allowing users to verify authorship and data integrity with the file and a single ledger lookup.
The prototype recorded median publication times of 3-5 seconds and verification times of 1-2 seconds, while batching kept ledger costs negligible. The tests ran on XRPL DevNet, not mainnet, and the paper does not announce a production deployment or formal BIS adoption.
XRPL has attracted institutional activity around tokenized assets, including work involving JPMorgan, Ripple, Mastercard, and Ondo Finance on tokenized Treasury settlement. However, this BIS experiment tests whether official information can be independently authenticated after publication, which is a different function from these other projects.