XRP Ledger Bug Could Have Minted Unlimited XRP

A decade-old flaw in the XRP Ledger's payment system could have created new XRP out of thin air. Here's what happened, how it was fixed, and what it means for holders.

A flaw in the XRP Ledger's payment system dating back a decade could have let an attacker mint large volumes of new XRP without paying, violating the token's hard supply cap. The XRP Ledger bug, discovered by researcher Cayden Liao and Veria AI, was reported internally on Sept. 22 and fixed in xrpld 3.4.1 on Sept. 25. RippleX says there is no evidence the flaw was ever exploited on any public network.

What happened with the XRP Ledger bug

When the XRP Ledger launched in 2012, it was set up so that all 100 billion XRP came into existence at once, and its software is designed to ensure no further XRP can ever be added. Yet the recently uncovered XRP Ledger bug, thought to date back to 2015, would have broken that principle.

As the researchers explain, the exploit took advantage of the ledger's native exchange, where users place offers to trade one token for another. By creating hundreds of accounts, an attacker could have each one offer a minuscule quantity of a token in return for an outsized amount of XRP. A lone payment would then have scooped up all of those offers in one go.

The sum of XRP that was owed would have been too big for the software to tally accurately. Consequently, the attacker's selling accounts would have received full payment, while the buying account was charged next to nothing — in effect conjuring XRP out of nothing.

Neither of two safeguards that ought to have detected this would have worked. After each transaction, the XRP Ledger performs a check to verify that no additional XRP has been created, yet that check would have depended on the very total that was miscounted. And a separate cap on the amount of XRP one account can receive would never have been reached, since the attack distributed the XRP among hundreds of accounts.

RippleX engineers recreated the attack on a standalone server and verified that the freshly minted XRP could be used in a subsequent transaction. The researchers' approach required just a few hundred XRP to set up the accounts — most of which could be reclaimed — along with transaction fees.

On Sept. 25, developers shipped the fix in xrpld 3.4.1 without saying what it had repaired.

Why it matters for XRP holders and traders

XRP's capped supply is central to what makes it attractive, particularly to institutions using the network. Were an attacker able to generate XRP from nothing and sell it on exchanges, that supply ceiling would be weakened and the price could come under pressure. CoinDesk highlighted this danger in its reporting on the incident.

The fact that the bug went undetected for roughly a decade is a reminder that even mature blockchain networks can harbor hidden flaws. The fix was deployed quietly, which may have been intended to avoid drawing attention before node operators updated. But it also means the community learned about the vulnerability only after the patch was already out.

The episode is the latest in a series of crypto security vulnerabilities that had gone unnoticed for long periods and came to light with the aid of AI since July. Among them are the Coldcard wallet flaw that led to the theft of at least 1,367 BTC, plus weaknesses that prompted Core Lightning to advise bitcoin node operators to disconnect.

Market reaction

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.40, up 0.45% over 24 hours, with $1,495,656,440 in daily volume and a market cap of $88,562,500,951. Bitcoin is at $82,759.00, up 0.21%, with $22,443,126,199 in volume and a $1,663,137,497,529 market cap.

The muted price action suggests the market is not treating the XRP Ledger bug as an active threat, likely because RippleX found no evidence of exploitation. Still, traders should watch for any follow-up disclosures or unusual on-chain activity.

What to watch next

Whether RippleX or independent researchers publish a full technical post-mortem of the XRP Ledger bug.
How quickly node operators upgrade to xrpld 3.4.1, and whether any older versions remain in use.
Whether similar accounting flaws are found in other ledgers' built-in exchange logic.
Any signs of large, unexplained XRP movements that could indicate attempted exploitation before the fix.

FAQ

What is the XRP Ledger bug that was discovered?

The issue was a defect in the XRP Ledger's payment system that could have enabled an attacker to generate substantial quantities of new XRP at no cost. It is thought to stretch back to 2015 and was discovered by researcher Cayden Liao and Veria AI.

Was the XRP Ledger bug exploited on the mainnet?

RippleX stated that it uncovered no signs the flaw had been taken advantage of on any public network. Engineers recreated the attack on a standalone server and verified the newly created XRP could be spent, though this occurred in a controlled test environment.

How was the XRP Ledger bug fixed?

The fix was released by developers in xrpld 3.4.1, the ledger's server software, on Sept. 25. At the time, the release gave no indication of what it had corrected, and node operators were expected to upgrade in order to safeguard the network.

Market snapshot

Prices at the time of writing (Oct 10, 2026 10:25 UTC).

XRP (XRP): $1.40 — 24h +0.45%
Bitcoin (BTC): $82,759.00 — 24h +0.21%

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