Something strange is happening on the $XRP Ledger and even validators are starting to notice. A dUNL validator known as Vet flagged unusual behavior over the past two days. One case showed that more than $2,000 was burned in fees across just four transactions. This turns out to be a not-normal activity for XRPL.
The explanation is not confirmed. However, one theory is gaining traction around AI bots in making rounds. Vet suggested that rising activity may be coming from people experimenting with AI tools and scripts. It added that many of these tools generate automated transactions. Meanwhile, some are not fully tested, while others simply spam the network with complex queries.
32% $XRP transactions failed
Data from recent blocks shows that about 32% of payment transactions did not go through. Many of these appear to be attempts to front-run liquidity. When the trade does not execute, the transaction fails. It added that a large share of transactions are failing. This kind of behavior often hints towards automation and not manual trading.
Amidst all the declines, Escrow unlocks have suddenly spiked. More than 750,000 $XRP (approx worth $1 million) was recently unlocked. These were not new escrows. Vet highlighted that lots of those escrows were created by holders and community members, and the time lock expired. Users either forgot about them or did not know how to claim them.
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Vet mentioned that a developer known as xrpl_adam scanned the ledger for those. He managed to finish them and return to the holders. So part of the activity is organic cleanup.
Last 2 days someone burned in 4 payments over $2,000 in transaction fees on $XRP.
We are seeing a lot more activity on $XRP, perhaps due to people vibe coding with AI new tools and scripts.
Often times resulting in complex queries hitting public infra or scripts spamming… pic.twitter.com/4SOIrZkIdh
— Vet (@Vet_X0) March 21, 2026
$XRP has outperformed Bitcoin over the last 7 days. $XRP price jumped by almost 4% in the past 7 days while BTC posted a marginal loss. Ripple’s $XRP recently took over BNB in the tally of the biggest crypto by market cap. $XRP is trading at an average price of $1.44 at the press time.
On-chain data shows that there is a mild rise in NFT burns. The majority of the transactions were linked to SBI EXPO 2025 collections. At the same time, RLUSD is showing up frequently in token transactions. This suggests that stablecoin usage on XRPL is increasing.
$XRP wallets hit new record
Santiment data shows $XRP Ledger wallet counts hitting new highs across all tiers. Wallets holding less than 100 $XRP alone went on to hit 5.66 million. It added that mid-tier wallets between 100 and 100,000 $XRP stand at just over 2 million. However, larger wallets above 100,000 $XRP hover around 32,000.
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Vet summed it up in an X post. He stated that AI is only as good as the person using it. Without proper oversight, it can generate transactions that are incomplete, inefficient, or outright broken.
A survey from Ripple found that 74% of finance leaders see stablecoins improving cash flow efficiency. Many of the fintech firms are already integrating them into payments and internal systems. Corporate exposure to $XRP is picking up the trend.
Evernorth Holdings disclosed holdings of over 473 million $XRP. Though much of it sits below acquisition cost after the recent price decline. The firm highlighted that it used $214.1 million in cash to buy 84.4 million $XRP. The purchase was made when $XRP was trading around $2.54. Its trade value has dropped by 35% from the average purchase price.
