How does XRP Ledger activity compare with Ethereum, Solana and Stellar on the same measures?

The full answer

How do the five chains compare on one provider’s figures?

The table uses one data provider, DefiLlama, read on one day, September 29, 2026, so every chain is measured the same way.[1][2][3][4][5] DefiLlama’s pages carry no timestamp, so these figures are snapshots from that day.

TVL means total value locked, the money deposited in apps on a chain, such as lending and trading apps. On the XRP Ledger DefiLlama counts the reserves of its AMM pools; its XRPL exchange page says it “Finds all AMM pools on XRPL, checks their reserves… and sums them up.”[12] Orders sitting on the ledger’s order books are not deposits and are not in that figure.

On these figures, XRPL’s stablecoins were about 0.83% of Ethereum’s, and XRPL’s DeFi deposits were under 0.1% of Ethereum’s (our calculations). Stellar is the closest peer on every money measure.

How does stablecoin growth compare?

Over the seven days to September 29, 2026, DefiLlama showed stablecoin supply up 1.78% on XRPL, 0.11% on Ethereum, 1.37% on Tron and 4.76% on Stellar, and down 2.97% on Solana.[1][2][3][4][5] Over a longer window, CryptoSlate reported that DefiLlama’s XRPL series “rose from $921.9 million on Aug. 12 to $1.126 billion on Sept. 11, a 22.2% increase.”[13] A matching 30-day figure for the other chains could not be read from here, so the longer comparison is left open. DefiLlama’s stablecoins-by-chain page showed a 30-day change of 1.39% in the all-chain total stablecoin market cap of $306.316b.

Fast growth from a small base is still small. XRPL’s $1.213 billion was about 0.40% of the $306.3 billion of stablecoins DefiLlama tracked across all chains that day (our calculation).[1][6] One issuer also dominates: DefiLlama put RLUSD at 92.46% of XRPL’s stablecoins, against USDT’s 50.12% share on Ethereum.[1][2] Whether stablecoin growth is on track for any stated target is covered on XRPL liquidity growth timelines.

Why is the transaction count high when the money figures are low?

XRPL recorded more transactions in 24 hours than Ethereum, 3.19 million against 2.06 million, with about one fourteenth as many active addresses.[1][2] That is about 71 transactions per active address, against about 3 on Ethereum, about 3.5 on Tron, 37 on Solana and 52 on Stellar (our calculation). Fees tell the same story: XRPL’s 24-hour network fees were $1,659, against $1.65 million on Ethereum.[1][2] A high count from few addresses at almost no cost fits automated activity more than broad use. How much of XRPL’s traffic is bots, spam or wash trading is examined on XRPL activity, bots, spam and wash trading.

How does the tokenized-asset total compare?

DefiLlama and RWA.xyz give very different numbers for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) because they count different things. DefiLlama showed $20.89 million on XRPL.[1] RWA.xyz, as of September 29, 2026, showed more, split into two kinds:[7][8]

The split matters. DeFi Prime, describing RWA.xyz’s framework, says “Distributed assets can be moved to wallets outside the issuing platform, and they can be transferred between wallets,” while “Represented assets cannot leave the issuing platform, or cannot move peer-to-peer once they are out, or both.”[10] RWA.xyz’s own framework post says that for represented assets “The blockchain primarily serves as a recordkeeping and reconciliation layer, modernizing legacy infrastructure and streamlining operations.”[11]

On the distributed measure, which is closest to what other chains hold, XRPL’s $498.7 million is about 3% of Ethereum’s and about one seventh of Stellar’s (our calculation). XRPL’s larger headline comes almost entirely from represented assets, 89% of its total.[7]

Is the XRP Ledger catching up anywhere?

The strongest evidence in XRPL’s favour is growth in tokenized assets. crypto.news reported on July 26, 2026 that XRPL “added about $2.6 billion in tokenized real-world asset value during the past six months,” second among tracked networks behind BNB Chain’s “about $3 billion,” with Stellar next at “roughly $2.1 billion.”[9] Distributed assets on XRPL rose from $323.21 million on July 26[9] to $498.7 million on September 29,[8] about 54% (our calculation).

The weakness in that evidence is concentration. On July 26 RWA.xyz valued one represented commodity product, Justoken’s JMWH, at $2.229 billion, about 55% of XRPL’s $4.06 billion represented total that day (our calculation).[9] A single issuer’s product can move the chain’s total in either direction. What is tokenized on XRPL, by whom, is set out on tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger. The case that Ethereum and Solana, with far deeper stablecoin and DeFi markets, are better placed to carry cross-border value is argued on Ethereum and Solana as a bridge.