XRPL Account Reserve

XRPL Account Reserve: Updated December 2024

The XRP Ledger requires every account to hold a minimum XRP balance called the base reserve. This reserve cannot be spent on transactions — it must remain in the account at all times. The base reserve protects the network from bloat by discouraging the creation of empty or spam accounts. Following a landmark validator vote in December 2024, the base reserve was reduced by 90% from 10 XRP to 1 XRP, dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for new XRPL users.

Full Guide
Key Facts
Related Topics

Base Reserve: 1 XRP (post-Dec 2024)

As of December 2024, activating a new XRP Ledger account requires a minimum balance of 1 XRP. This is down from the previous 10 XRP requirement. The reduction followed a successful fee voting process where a majority of trusted validators agreed that 10 XRP had become unnecessarily restrictive as XRP's price appreciated.
Owner Reserve: 0.2 XRP per Object

In addition to the base reserve, each account must hold an incremental reserve for every object it owns on the ledger. This includes trustlines (for holding non-XRP tokens), offers on the decentralized exchange, escrows, and other ledger objects. The owner reserve was reduced from 2 XRP to 0.2 XRP per object in the same December 2024 validator vote.
Why Reserves Are Locked

Unlike the transaction fee (which is burned), reserve XRP is not destroyed — it is locked in your account. If you delete ledger objects (trustlines, offers, etc.), the corresponding reserve is returned. Accounts with zero balance that meet deletion criteria can use the AccountDelete transaction to reclaim their base reserve, minus a 5 XRP deletion fee.
Reserve vs. Network Fee

The account reserve and the transaction fee are separate concepts. The transaction fee (0.00001 XRP) is burned with every transaction. The reserve is a locked minimum balance that can be reclaimed by deleting the account or its objects. You cannot use your reserve balance to pay transaction fees — your spendable balance must be above the reserve floor.
Checking Your Reserve

Your current reserve requirement is visible in wallet applications and through the account_info API. The formula is: total_reserve = base_reserve + (owner_reserve × object_count). If your balance falls below this threshold, you cannot initiate most transactions until you receive more XRP. Some wallets display this as 'locked balance'.

XRPL Fee Quick Reference

Base Fee: 0.00001 XRP (10 drops) | Fee in USD: ~$0.0000152 | 1M Transactions: ~$15.20 | Fees are burned permanently — not paid to validators. Account reserve: 1 XRP. Trustline reserve: 0.2 XRP. Fee updated via validator vote every ~15 minutes.
XRPL vs. Other Networks

Ethereum avg fee: $1–$10+ | Bitcoin avg fee: $1–$5 | Solana avg fee: $0.004 | XRPL avg fee: $0.0000152 | The XRP Ledger is approximately 265x cheaper than Solana and 50,000x cheaper than Ethereum for standard payment transactions.
Historical Fee Burns

Since the XRP Ledger launched in June 2012, more than 14.3 million XRP have been permanently burned through transaction fees. At current prices this represents significant value destroyed, making XRP a deflationary asset over long time horizons.