XRP Ledger Upgrade Could Make Owning XRP Optional

The XRP Ledger is set to undergo an upgrade that could potentially make owning XRP optional for users. The proposed change, called Sponsored Fees and Reserves, would allow banks or platforms to cover both the transaction fee and the locked amount of XRP required by new accounts.

According to Jazzi Cooper, head of product at RippleX, this change aims to remove one of the biggest barriers for new users, which is the need to acquire and manage XRP before interacting with the network. The upgrade is expected to be released next week as part of the xrpld 3.3.0 update.

Currently, every account on the ledger locks up 1 XRP, with each additional item requiring another 0.2 XRP. This can make it difficult for new users to get started, especially for institutional tokenization on XRPL. Under the proposed upgrade, sponsors would hold this locked amount instead of millions of small users.

The change could have both positive and negative effects on XRP demand. On one hand, everyday users may no longer need to buy XRP, reducing its usage and potentially driving down prices. However, platforms signing up thousands of accounts may require more XRP, which could increase demand. Past upgrades have offered little guidance on the price impact.

Two other proposed changes, Batch and Permission Delegation, were previously attempted but failed due to flaws or issues with their implementation.