XRP Ledger: How Validators Vote to Secure Transactions

The XRP Ledger is a public network that underlies the cryptocurrency XRP. Unlike Bitcoin, it doesn't rely on mining to validate transactions, instead using a voting procedure called the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol.

Developed in 2011 by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto as an alternative to energy-intensive mining, the protocol was designed to allow servers to agree on the next version of the record every three to five seconds.

This consensus mechanism is based on a voting procedure where validators propose transactions and adjust their proposals until a sufficient majority agrees. If more than 80% of trusted validators behave incorrectly, the network comes to a halt.

The Unique Node List (UNL) plays a crucial role in this process, as it's the list of validators that an individual server believes. Each operator compiles their own UNL, and most adopt a recommended default list.