The XRP Ledger has apparently set a new record for the number of transactions processed within a single ledger.
XRPL validator Vet reported that one ledger contained 3,254 transactions, describing it as a new all-time high.
"3254 transactions in a single block a few hours ago on the XRP Ledger. New record," Vet wrote.
The unusually large ledger appears to have been dominated by tiny XRP transfers.
According to Vet, most of the transactions were payments of just one drop, the smallest unit of XRP.
"I don't know why this person is doing these transactions, but it looks like throughput testing, probably," Vet said.
What the record actually means
The 3,254-transaction figure does not necessarily mean that the XRP Ledger suddenly increased its permanent transaction-processing limit.
XRPL does not operate with a simple fixed maximum number of transactions that can fit into every ledger. This sets it apart from Bitcoin, whose transaction capacity is not adaptive.
The network uses a soft transaction target that can move depending on how quickly validators are able to process transactions.
If a ledger contains more transactions than the current target, the network can increase the target depending on how quickly it closes.
“If the last ledger packed more than the target and still closed fast, the target can rise, indicating healthy consensus so the network clears more transactions,” Vet said.
The 3,254 simple payments are not equivalent to 3,254 complex transactions.
"Basically not all transactions are equal in load footprint," Vet explained.
Major XRP Ledger amendments moving forward
The network is also preparing for a substantial batch of protocol upgrades introduced with xrpld 3.3.0, which was released on Aug. 6. The release added BatchV1_1, ConfidentialTransfer, DynamicMPT, PermissionDelegationV1_1 and Sponsor, alongside a collection of protocol fixes.
BatchV1_1 is currently the closest of the new features to the required validator threshold. As of Sept. 14, 27 of 35 trusted validators were signaling support.