Ripple Rolls Out New XRPL Upgrade, but Less Than Half of Nodes Have Upgraded

Over three weeks ago, the Ripple team launched a new software update for the $XRP Ledger (XRPL). Although the infrastructure upgrade (v3.2.0) has been running for close to a month now, not all of the network’s validator nodes have adopted it. In fact, more than half of the nodes are still running on the old version (v3.1.3) and are yet to come on board.

Data from XRPScan shows that only 43%, accounting for 357 out of 828 nodes, have upgraded to v3.2.0. On the other hand, 51%, that is 426 of the nodes, are still running on v3.1.3.

XRPL Launches New Upgrade

The latest infrastructure upgrade introduces several new features to the XRPL. One of them is the rebranding of the core server software from rippled to xrpld. The update also optimizes institutional usage by significantly reducing operating costs and implementing 30% to 40% lower memory usage across network nodes.

Additionally, v3.2.0 improves security, developer experience, and network efficiency, adding another confidence layer for builders. These features will add to the bug fixes and improvements to permissioned domains and vaults implemented during the v3.1.3 maintenance rollout in late May.

It is worth mentioning that despite the majority of nodes still operating on v3.1.3, roughly 61% of XRPL validators running on rippled versions have adopted the new upgrade. Also, 89% of the Unique Node List (UNL), which is the ledger’s trusted set of validators, are currently running on the software.

The XRPL needs 80% of the UNL to activate any network upgrades. With 31 out of 35 UNL validators having cleared the threshold, the network treats v3.2.0 as sufficiently updated. So, it is only a matter of time before other nodes jump on the bandwagon.

V3.2.0 Amendment Under Voting

In the meantime, the XRPL is trying to approve and implement security fixes associated with v3.2.0. The fixes, bundled in an amendment titled fixCleanup3_2_0, are yet to be approved, as it is still under voting on the XRPL.

The XRPL needs 28 out of 35 UNL votes to cross the threshold and approve the amendment; however, the network has gotten 17 so far. This means only 48.57% of trusted validators have voted so far.

If approved, fixCleanup3_2_0 will deploy fixes for single-asset vaults, lending protocol, multi-purpose tokens, permissioned domains, and permissioned decentralized exchanges.