XRP Ledger Lending Remains 10 Votes Short as Security Upgrade Moves Ahead Without DeFi Launch

Key takeaways

• XRPL security upgrade holds 94% validator support
• Native lending remains ten votes short of approval
• November 4 activation will not unlock lending functionality

The XRP Ledger is approaching a major security upgrade on November 4, with 33 of 35 trusted validators supporting its latest cleanup amendment, even as the network's proposed native lending system remains ten votes short of approval.

According to the XRPL amendment tracker, the fixCleanup3_4_0 amendment has secured 94.3% validator support, placing it on course for activation around 14:46 UTC if its two-week supermajority remains uninterrupted.

XRP Ledger Security Upgrade Moves Ahead With 33 Votes

The November 4 milestone follows an earlier XRPL upgrade delay, when validator support briefly fell below 80% on October 21, resetting the mandatory two-week countdown.

The cleanup amendment includes technical corrections affecting token permissions, automated market makers, escrow transactions and the infrastructure being developed for future lending.

One particularly significant fix addresses an unintended token-creation possibility involving delegated burning permissions for issued assets. It does not concern the creation of native XRP.

According to the official XRPL 3.4.0 release notes, the package also improves vault accounting, rounding behavior and loan-related processing.

These corrections build on earlier XRPL security improvements designed to strengthen asset authorization as institutional tokenization expands.

Why XRPL Lending Still Needs 10 More Validators

The contrast highlights how technical maintenance and new financial functionality move through separate approval processes.

The proposed XRP Ledger lending system would allow pooled assets to fund fixed-term loans directly through native network infrastructure.

SingleAssetVault, which enables assets to be pooled and represented by vault shares, currently has 21 supporting validators, leaving it eight short.

LendingProtocol and its newer V1_1 revision remain ten votes short each. The latter introduces closed-ended vaults and cash-basis accounting, recognizing interest when borrowers make payments.

Unlike lending applications that rely primarily on automated collateral liquidation, XRPL's proposed model uses off-chain underwriting to evaluate borrower creditworthiness.

Loan brokers can also provide first-loss capital, although that would not eliminate default risk.

Even if the amendments secured sufficient votes today, they would need to maintain the required supermajority for two consecutive weeks before activation.

That explains why the October lending vote shortfall remains a significant obstacle to launching native credit markets.

What Delayed Lending Means for Ripple and XRP

The unfinished protocol could affect the timing of institutional lending applications being developed around XRPL.

Ripple's recent partnership with Arf already supports RLUSD-denominated settlement financing, with native lending potentially enabling additional on-chain credit activity later.

However, Arf's existing financing operations are distinct from the proposed protocol and do not depend on its immediate activation.

The broader opportunity involves giving institutions infrastructure to deploy XRP and eligible issued assets into structured credit markets.

Developers have already introduced lending improvements, but available software does not mean validators have approved deployment.