The XRP Ledger, the blockchain behind the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency, has come under scrutiny after ranking last in a new security assessment from blockchain analytics firm Kaiko.
Key Takeaways:
- XRP Ledger ranked last in Kaiko’s security assessment with a score of 41 out of 100.
- A hack in April exposed vulnerabilities in XRPL’s software supply chain, raising major concerns.
- The network’s limited validator distribution and low decentralization remain key weaknesses.
According to Kaiko’s quarterly Blockchain Ecosystem Ranking, the XRP Ledger scored just 41 out of 100 in the security category, the lowest among 15 blockchains surveyed.
That placed it behind Polygon at 44 and Stellar at 45, while Ethereum led the pack with a score of 83.
Weak Scores on Validator Security and Decentralization
Kaiko evaluates blockchains across five pillars: governance, integration, liquidity, operational efficiency, and security.
The security assessment covers validator decentralization, audit history, operational resilience, and past breaches.
In April, a hacker infiltrated an official software package used by XRPL developers, embedding malicious code that could steal users’ private keys.
Although the core ledger and GitHub repository were not directly compromised, the breach exposed vulnerabilities in the blockchain’s supply chain security and drew sharp criticism.
At the time, Aikido Security, the attacker gained access to a developer’s Node Package Manager (NPM) token, allowing them to publish compromised versions of xrpl.js, the official JavaScript library for interacting with the XRP Ledger.
With over 140,000 weekly downloads, the package is widely integrated into hundreds of thousands of apps and websites, raising concerns over the potential scale of the breach.
“This could have been catastrophic,” Eriksen warned in a security update, noting that the flaw theoretically allowed attackers to steal private keys, putting crypto wallets at risk.
The malicious code was detected on April 21, when Aikido’s monitoring system flagged five suspicious package versions.
Validator distribution remains another sore point. Unlike Ethereum and Solana, which rely on vast validator sets of more than one million and 1,700 nodes respectively, the XRP Ledger has roughly 190 active validators.
Of those, only 35 are included in the default “unique node list,” the trusted group most participants use to reach consensus. While this design is meant to enhance speed and reliability, critics argue it concentrates power and leaves the system more susceptible to coordinated failures.
Wellgistics Rolls Out XRP Ledger Payments for US Pharmacies
Wellgistics Health is introducing an XRP Ledger–based payment system to thousands of pharmacies across the United States, marking one of the first large-scale blockchain deployments in the healthcare sector.
The Nasdaq-listed distributor (WGRX) said the platform will allow independent pharmacies to pay for drug inventory and move funds instantly, bypassing the banking delays and high credit card fees that often strain small operators.
The rollout integrates with RxERP, a serialized pharmaceutical e-commerce and enterprise planning tool, offering real-time tracking, lower costs, and direct settlement between pharmacies and distributors.
Wellgistics, which counts more than 6,500 pharmacies and 200 manufacturers in its network, is among the first healthcare firms to launch a payment solution on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), the open-source blockchain supported by Ripple Labs.
Pharmacies can now enroll in the beta version of the program.
CEO Brian Norton said the response from pharmacy owners has been stronger than expected, noting that they are “more forward-thinking on blockchain than many in the industry assume.”
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