XRP Ledger Study Finds Simple Peer Augmentation Could Triple Network Defense

A recent study on XRP Ledger (XRPL) has found that adding just two to three extra peer connections per participating node can significantly boost the network's defense against targeted attacks.

The research, which used data from a representative snapshot of the XRPL graph in 2022, found that this simple tweak could triple the number of nodes needed to be removed to disrupt consensus.

The study modeled various scenarios, including one where participation was at 60% and K=2 (the number of new undirected edges each participating node creates), which resulted in a quorum critical attack size increase from 11% to 38% when removals targeted the highest-degree nodes.