BIS Tests XRP Ledger for Verifying Official Statistics Files

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has been experimenting with the XRP Ledger as part of its efforts to verify the authenticity of official statistics files. The BIS published a working paper on September 2, titled 'Verifiable official statistics: a blockchain-based approach,' which outlines its prototype system.

The BIS system creates a cryptographic fingerprint of the published files by hashing individual files and combining those hashes into a Merkle tree, producing a single root value that represents the underlying data. This root is then placed inside the memo field of a Payment transaction on the XRP Ledger.

Vet, an XRPL validator, has suggested using an NFT instead to store the verification proof on the ledger. According to Vet, the published file also contains the anchored root, the ordered Merkle leaves, and a signed verifiable credential. This allows a user to independently reconstruct the Merkle root and determine whether the downloaded file matches the original version.

The BIS reported that its system uses SDMX, a standard for exchanging statistical data, although the researchers noted that the architecture could also support formats such as XBRL. The experiment is testing XRPL's ability to support verifiable data infrastructure beyond payment-related applications.