The analysis of XRP wallet balances reveals interesting patterns in user behavior and network structure, illustrating how technical elements influence network usage.
Data Analysis Methodology
This analysis, conducted in September 2025, scanned approximately 7 million XRP wallets. The top 250 most frequent balance values, representing 2,685,283 wallets or 38.3% of the network, were examined. The analysis showed clear patterns tied to the history and evolution of the network, filtering out unique values.
Reserve Clusters and Their Impact
The reserve requirements for users, which have changed since 2012, significantly impacted the balance structure. The metrics indicate users often leave their wallets with minimum reserves, creating 'value fossils'. For instance, the top values of 10.0 XRP and 20.0 XRP account for 16.13% of all wallets, indicating psychological anchoring to round numbers.
User Psychology and Behavior
Users rarely delete their wallets, leaving them abandoned with minimal amounts. This behavior also highlights human psychology, as approximately 470,609 wallets show a balance of 1.00000100 XRP, which may indicate automated spam during wallet activation. These patterns are indicative of the challenges new users face upon first entering the network.
The analysis shows how technical requirements and human behavior shape the structure of the XRP network, emphasizing the significant impact of protocol architecture on wallet usage. This information might be beneficial for the future development of blockchain technologies.