XRPL Base Fee: 10 Drops Explained
On the XRP Ledger, the smallest unit of XRP is called a drop. One XRP equals 1,000,000 drops. The standard base transaction fee is 10 drops, which equals 0.00001 XRP. All fee values in the XRPL protocol are expressed in drops rather than XRP to allow precise, integer-based calculations without floating-point errors.
XRP Ledger fees have remained among the lowest of any major blockchain since 2015 — validators collectively set fee parameters via a transparent voting process.
XRPL.org Documentation
The base fee is not set unilaterally. Each XRPL validator proposes a preferred fee level, and the network selects the median value among active validators. This decentralized process ensures no single entity can manipulate fee levels. If a majority of validators vote to adjust the base fee, the change takes effect across the network simultaneously.
It's worth noting that the reserve requirement is separate from the transaction fee. New XRPL accounts must maintain a minimum XRP balance (currently 1 XRP base reserve) to activate. This reserve is not a fee — it remains in the account and is only locked, not burned.
- 1 XRP = 1,000,000 drops (smallest XRPL unit)
- Standard transaction fee = 10 drops = 0.00001 XRP
- Validators vote on fee parameters; network uses the median
- Reserve requirement (1 XRP) is separate from the transaction fee
- Fees are specified in the 'Fee' field of every signed transaction
