Ripple CTO: XRPL Validators Help Maintain Order, Not Control Nodes

• Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz said the primary function of validators is to help nodes confirm conflicting transactions.
• Nodes can identify transactions, access transaction logs and identify valid transactions.
• Validators in the XRP Ledger coordinate activation of features, but can’t force nodes to accept them.

In a recent tweet on X, formerly Twitter, David Schwartz, the chief technology officer at Ripple Labs, clarified the role of validators in the XRP Ledger – the decentralized public blockchain backing the XRP token. According to him, the primary function of validators is to help confirm conflicting transactions and prevent a system failure. 

Schwartz said the only way to interact with the XRP Ledger is through a node, which anyone can run. He added that if users choose not to use a node, someone else is running a node that allows them to interact with the ledger. He equated this to placing trust in someone’s hands.

To further emphasize the role of nodes in the ledger, Schwartz added that nodes do not need validators to identify valid transactions. Per the post, all nodes have access to the transaction logs and transaction rules, which have been made public.

Furthermore, he said that while nodes can agree on transactions without validators, they can’t solve the double-spend problem, which is simply a user spending the same cryptocurrency unit twice.

According to Schwartz, a user may enter two authentic but conflicting transactions into the network. Therefore, nodes need to agree on which transaction to accept or fail so the system does not break.

Per the post, Schwartz said this is important and underscores why validators are needed in the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Through the validators, nodes can work around equally valid but conflicting transactions.

In addition, Schwartz clarified that validators also coordinate the activation of features on the XRP Ledger. However, the validators cannot force nodes to accept features they are unwilling to accept.  

In related news, the XRP Ledger recently reported closing approximately 82,035,421 registered ledgers on the blockchain. The blockchain also recorded over 1.9 million NFTs minted and $12.8 million worth of NFT assets sold.