Ripple releases a report every quarter about the state of cryptocurrency markets and their sales of XRP. They believe in being transparent and communicating regularly to be a responsible XRP holder. They encourage other companies in the industry to follow their example to build trust and improve communication.
- Ripple’s payment solution “On Demand Liquidity” launched in France, Sweden, and Africa and is now available in nearly 40 payout markets.
- Ripple’s XRP sales for the quarter were $226.31 million, down from the previous quarter’s $310.68 million.
- A company called Peersyst released the first phase of a sidechain for the XRP Ledger that allows decentralized finance applications to launch on the XRP Ledger.
Q4 2022 was a difficult period for both crypto and the overall economy. Liquidity in crypto was impacted by the failure of FTX and the global monetary tightening led to a decline in risk assets. The crypto industry is consolidating and companies offering real-world solutions will be successful. Many people moved to self-custody through on-chain wallets while institutional participants sought new venues for secure and trustworthy trading and holding of assets. Exchanges need to be more transparent about their financial stability. XRP spot market volumes decreased to roughly $700 million, a decline seen across the crypto market. Open interest for both BTC and ETH decreased. The migration to self-custody was not benefitting any single centralized exchange and the industry will see investment focused on improving core aspects such as payments, custodial services, and cross-chain user experiences.
The global regulation of the crypto industry has come under scrutiny following the collapse of FTX. Several countries have introduced regulatory frameworks, such as the UAE, UK, Switzerland and Singapore, while the US remains behind in providing clarity. The SEC has continued its regulation by enforcement approach and charged Genesis and Gemini with selling unregistered securities, while US banking regulators issued warnings to banks about dealing with cryptocurrencies. In the EU, the final vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill was postponed to April 2023 and Coinbase was approved to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Ireland. Brazil signed into law the country’s first crypto regulatory framework, and Hong Kong aims to become a crypto hub. Ripple released a UK policy whitepaper to propel the UK towards being a global crypto hub. Stablecoin regulation will likely be a top priority in 2023, with major bills expected to be reintroduced in the US. The SEC lawsuit against Ripple is fully briefed, and a decision is expected in 2023. Ripple feels confident in its defense.
The XRPL continued to see robust on-chain activity despite a slowdown in the broader market. The XLS-20 amendment, which passed on November 2, 2022, led to a rise in NFT activity and a growth of over three million transactions on the ledger. Despite this increase, XRP burn due to transaction fees declined by 33% and the average cost of a transaction stayed nearly zero, whereas the average transaction fee on the Ethereum network was $2.75 and the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network was $1.23.
This development expands the reach of the XRPL, making it easier for developers to build applications and for DeFi projects to launch on the XRPL network. The integration of the Ethereum Virtual Machine into the XRPL allows for the deployment of Solidity-based smart contracts and can further spur the growth of the DeFi ecosystem on the XRPL. The low-cost transactions and fast speed of the XRPL make it an attractive choice for developers and users.
Ripple had a strong year in 2022, with the highest demand for its ODL product and growth in the number of markets for its crypto-powered payment solution. RippleNet processed nearly $30B worth of volume and 20M transactions, with 60% sent through ODL. Ripple also expanded its customer base to include corporates seeking the benefits of crypto-enabled cross-border payments. In Q4, Ripple sold XRP worth $226.31M, net of purchases, in connection with ODL transactions. The company remains well-capitalized and is focused on continuing to scale its platform and meet customer demand in 2023.
The XRPL community saw major milestones and recognition in 2022. The Colombian National Land Agency’s national land registry on the XRPL, developed with Peersyst, was named one of Time Magazine’s “Best Innovations of 2022.” The XLS-20 amendment also went live on the XRPL mainnet, allowing for efficient and cost-effective NFT creation and transactions. The XRPL’s low transaction costs and high transaction volume have resulted in numerous NFT projects and use cases, with over 800K NFTs minted and 410.6K transacted.
