What features does the XRP Ledger have today, and what new ones (like lending) are coming?

The full answer

The XRP Ledger’s main financial features are part of the base protocol, not apps built on top. A new one only switches on after the network’s trusted validators vote for it, so this page sorts features by that vote: live on mainnet, or still waiting.

Which feature has been live the longest?

The exchange. XRPL.org says the ledger has “possibly the world’s oldest decentralized exchange,” operating “since the XRP Ledger’s launch in 2012.”" Its order book, where buyers and sellers post prices, “does not require AMMs to swap.”[1] Auto-bridging sits inside it: when two tokens trade, the ledger routes through XRP “when doing so is cheaper than trading directly token-to-token.”[1] How that routing works is covered on what auto-bridging is.

Payments can change currency on the way. XRPL.org: “Cross-currency payments within the XRP Ledger are fully atomic, meaning the payment fully executes or no part of the payment executes at all.”[2] The home page’s use-case menu also lists tokenization, stablecoins, NFTs, escrow and checks.[3]

What has been added since 2024?

Automated market maker (AMM) pools went live on March 22, 2024.[4] In a status update four days later, on March 26, 2024, XRPL.org reported that “a community member identified a discrepancy in a few AMM pools” and said that until a fix was enabled, “it’s best for users to redeem LP tokens and not deposit new funds into AMM pools.”[4] The pools themselves are explained on how XRPL AMMs work.

Five more features went live between September 2025 and February 2026. News reports tie two of them, Credentials and the Permissioned DEX, to identity checks and regulated institutions:

• Credentials went live at 03:51:21 UTC on September 4, 2025, according to Bitcoinist. They let issuers “attest facts about an XRPL account,” such as identity verification, Bitcoinist reported.[5]
• Multi-Purpose Tokens, a second token format, activated on October 1, 2025, according to Cryptopolitan, citing Ripple developers.[6]
• Token Escrow activated on February 12, 2026, “extending the network’s native escrow mechanics beyond XRP” to other tokens, Bitcoinist reported.[7]
• Permissioned Domains and the Permissioned DEX, an exchange limited to approved members, went live in February 2026, according to Crypto Briefing.[8]

The tracker xrpldashboard confirmed on September 29, 2026 that “Credentials, PermissionedDomains, PermissionedDEX, and TokenEscrow” are “live on mainnet today.”[9] What these tools do for banks and funds is the subject of XRPL compliance features for institutions.

Is Batch live?

No. Batch, a feature that wraps several inner transactions in one, was in its voting phase when researchers found a bug in February 2026. XRPL.org’s report says the flaw let an attacker run transactions for other accounts without their keys, that the amendment “had not been activated on mainnet; no funds were at risk,” and that rippled 3.1.1 marked it unsupported.[10] A revised version, BatchV1_1, had 30 of 35 validator votes on September 29, 2026, according to the amendment tracker; whether and when it activates is not yet established. The tracker shows an earlier majority, reached September 15, was lost on September 25 when “support dropped below 29 for one roll call,” and the countdown restarted from a new majority reached the same day.[9] XRPL.org’s rule is that an amendment needs “two weeks of support from more than 80% of trusted validators,” so the date holds only if support does.[11]

Is native lending live yet?

No. On September 29, 2026, xrpldashboard showed LendingProtocol at “15/35 yes (needs 29 of 35)” and SingleAssetVault at 19 of 35.[9] XRPL.org describes the lending protocol as making loans “using pooled funds from a Single Asset Vault.”[15] XRPL.org’s home page lists “Lending (Coming Soon)” in its body and “Lending (Open for Voting)” in its menu.[3] Version 3.4.0, released September 16, 2026, added LendingProtocolV1_1, which extends both the lending and vault amendments with closed-ended vaults and cash-basis accounting.[12] xrpldashboard showed it with 1 vote of 35.[9] The full status is tracked on is XRPL lending live.

Native cross-chain bridges are also waiting. XRPL.org says they “enable you to move XRP and tokens between the XRP Ledger and other blockchains” and require the XChainBridge amendment,[13] which had 6 of 35 votes on September 29, 2026.[9] Smart contracts are a separate question, covered on does the XRP Ledger support smart contracts. The voting process itself is explained on how XRPL amendments are approved.

Do these features create any demand for XRP?

Not automatically. CryptoSlate argued on March 2, 2026 that “XRPL can generate significant economic activity, while XRP captures only a thin utility skim, unless market structure begins to adopt XRP as the unit of liquidity.”[14] In the XRPL.org pages cited here, XRP appears as the transaction cost, which “is not paid to any party: the XRP is irrevocably destroyed,”[16] and as the bridge asset in auto-bridging;[1] the new tools mostly move other tokens (our reading). That argument is followed further on does tokenization need XRP, and the record of which announcements became working products is on XRPL announcements becoming products.