Who keeps it running

Servers run by many different people and organizations keep the ledger going. Anyone can run one.

Anyone can run the XRP Ledger's server software and connect to the network. A server can follow the ledger, send transactions, or act as a validator: a server that takes part in agreeing on each new ledger version.

Each server chooses the validators it trusts. When enough of them agree on the same set of transactions, that ledger version is validated and final. There's no mining and no race between validators, so confirming transactions doesn't take the wasteful, competitive computing most other blockchains use.

The design tolerates trouble. If a few trusted validators fail or misbehave, the rest carry on. If too many do, the network stops making progress rather than accept transactions that break the rules.

New features arrive the same way. An upgrade, called an amendment, takes effect only once validators agree to it through the same process.

Sources

Networks and Servers (xrpl.org) (checked 2026-10-22)
Consensus Protocol (xrpl.org) (checked 2026-10-22)
What is the XRP Ledger? (xrpl.org) (checked 2026-10-22)

General information about how the XRP Ledger works, not financial, legal or tax advice.