Ripple Faces Criticism Over $250,000 Reward for Finding Critical XRP Flaw

A researcher found a critical XRP Ledger bug that could have let someone create XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) out of thin air—and the $250,000 reward Ripple paid for it is now drawing criticism. What the Bug Actually Did The Block reported Sunday that a flaw in the XRP Ledger’s payment system went unnoticed since 2015, letting someone potentially create XRP out of nothing. Someone could set up hundreds of fake accounts, each selling a tiny amount of a token for a huge pile of XRP. Bundling all those trades into one payment broke the system’s math, causing it to read a massive number as something tiny. The buyer would pay almost nothing, while every seller still got paid in full. The network’s safeguard against creating new XRP broke the same way, so nothing would have stopped it. Security firm Veria Labs found the bug with an AI agent and reported it Sept. 22. Co-founder Cayden Liao said one exploit could have minted roughly 18 trillion XRP, nearly 184 times the token’s 100 billion supply cap. However, developers found no sign anyone used the bug before it was fixed. Why Ripple Skipped Its Usual Fix Process Normally, changes to the XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) Ledger go through a two-week voting process among validators. This time, RippleX shipped the fix directly to validators on Sept. 25, a move the disclosure report called a first in over a decade. Developers said waiting two weeks would have exposed the bug publicly before the fix went live, giving attackers a window to exploit it. The XRP Ledger Foundation confirmed the bug never created extra XRP, since it only existed as a path around the supply cap, not an actual breach. The foundation also noted all ledger data stays public, so any new XRP would show up in account balances immediately. Why the Reward Is Getting Pushback Crypto investigator ZachXBT criticized the payout on X, arguing that $250,000 looks cheap for a bug capable of threatening the entire network’s supply, especially given Ripple’s multibillion-dollar treasury. He warned the low reward could discourage future researchers from reporting similar flaws responsibly instead of exploiting them. RippleX engineers defended their response, saying AI tools now make it possible to catch and patch critical bugs fast enough that attackers can’t reverse-engineer them from public code. The team said it plans to expand AI-assisted security testing and strengthen its bug bounty program going forward. Where XRP Stands Technically XRP trades around $1.38, consolidating inside a descending channel since its September high near $1.73. Price sits between its 100-day EMA at $1.34 and 20-day EMA at $1.44, while RSI at 42.81 points to fading momentum. Key levels for XRP: $1.50: resistance level $1.34: support level Photo via Shutterstock Read Also: Strategy Adds 250 Bitcoin: Can MSTR Break Through $160?