The XRP Ledger (XRPL) had an exceptional first quarter, with a significant increase in transactions and active addresses, according to data from Messari. The network experienced a surge in activity, with 2.7 million transactions recorded, a 113% increase compared to the previous quarter. Additionally, the average daily active addresses rose by 37%. This growth can be attributed to the introduction of inscriptions, which have become popular on various blockchain networks, including XRPL. The network now boasts 5.15 million addresses, a 3% increase in the past three months.
One interesting trend observed in Q1 was the rise in payment transaction activity without a corresponding increase in active addresses. This suggests that users were making more payments on average, with one week recording 22 million payments. Messari believes this is due to the rise of inscriptions and expects the activity to stabilize over time.
Despite the strong performance in transactions and transfers, XRPL still lags behind other major networks like Solana and Ethereum in terms of decentralization. The market cap of issued currencies on XRPL’s DeFi platform decreased by over 10% to $142 million. While it is easy to launch tokens on the network, attracting investor interest has proven to be a challenge. Sologenic’s SOLO token dominates the field, accounting for over 40% of the DeFi market cap.
In terms of trading, XRP has remained relatively stable, trading at $0.53 with minimal volatility. The past week has seen a mere 0.2% decrease in its value.