This is the first in a series of articles devoted to the new amendments introduced for consensus voting with the latest version of the XRP Ledger Version 2.5.0.
Each following article in the series will dive into a single amendment, explain why it’s important, and show what use cases it will enable across the XRP and XRPL ecosystem.
In this article, we’ll explain how the amendment process works to familiarize readers as we move into more depth about these potential additions.
Amendments
Think of amendments as a software update. Similar to when your cellphone gets an update, amendments can add new features, fix existing bugs, or close potential security holes. In the case of XRP Ledger amendments, these changes apply to how transactions are executed across the network.
These amendments start as proposals added to the XRPL-Standard GitHub repository.1 Think of this like bringing an idea to your local town hall and posting it for discussion in the next town meeting. There is a standardized set of documentation needed so that the proposal is easy to read and understand for all participants.
Proposals can be submitted by anyone. Recent proposals for XRPL have come from a broad group, including Ripple employees, community developers, and independent contributors.2 After submission the proposal is heavily discussed across the community via GitHub discussions and other platforms.
Once an idea has been refined, the process moves from a theoretical proposal to an actual amendment, and it is assigned a unique identifier to track it. Developers will write code for the proposed amendment and build that new code into an existing rippled software release. Rippled is the main server software, akin to an operating system, that runs the XRP Ledger network.3
It is important to make a distinction here. Though this code is added to a software release, it is not immediately active across the XRPL network. It is included in an upcoming release so as server operators consider updating their software to the latest version, they can become familiar with the proposed amendment and understand how to handle it if/when it gains consensus.
Once an amendment is included in an update, it is available to be voted on. Voting is done by validators. Validators are special servers that help secure the XRPL network. They can be run by anyone including banks, crypto exchanges, universities, community members, or even Ripple itself. No single validator can control the network as each validator only gets one vote per amendment.4
These validators install new software updates and vote by changing their server configuration settings to vote YES or NO on each amendment. Every 15 minutes, as validators validate ledgers across the network, their votes will be automatically submitted to be counted.
The network counts these votes and once 80% of the validators continuously agree on the amendment for 2 weeks, it is approved and is automatically activated across the network. Think of the validators as town council members who will vote based on feedback from the community and their own knowledge of the network. Their goal is to work together for the benefit of the entire network to make sure it remains secure and honest.
So far, the consensus mechanism has approved 77 amendments. In the next article, we’ll look at the first of the new proposed amendments, TokenEscrow (XLS-85), which looks to transform how settlements can be processed.
1 XRPLF/XRPL-Standards GitHub Repository XRPLF. "XRPL-Standards: XLS: XRP(L) Community Defined Suggestions, Proposals, RFCs / Standards / Drafts & Discussions." GitHub. https://github.com/XRPLF/XRPL-Standards.
2 Known Amendments - XRPL.org XRP Ledger Foundation. "Known Amendments." XRPL.org. https://xrpl.org/resources/known-amendments.
3 XRPLF/rippled GitHub Repository XRPLF. "rippled: Decentralized Cryptocurrency Blockchain Daemon Implementing the XRP Ledger Protocol in C++." GitHub. https://github.com/XRPLF/rippled.
4 XRPScan Validators XRPScan. "XRP Ledger Validators." XRPScan. https://xrpscan.com/validators.
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