Supporting the XRP Ledger Ecosystem: the Adopt a Node Program

Anyone can run their own node on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), but in reality, users and projects don’t because of the practical aspects (time and money) and high level of technical difficulty. They would rather rely on well-maintained, distributed, globally accessible, always-on, secure, and reliable infrastructure.

Providing this level of infrastructure is extremely expensive, requiring significant resources in hardware, bandwidth, and people with the time and skills to support it, but the infrastructure is essential to ensure the XRPL remains robust and accessible to all users.

This infrastructure must be able to handle a large number of requests and simultaneous clients and have extra capacity for maintenance, failure, and other contingencies.

High uptime ensures transactions are processed quickly and efficiently as almost all apps, marketplaces, Xumm, Bithomp, Ledger Live, and many more rely on the server cluster provided by the XRP Ledger Foundation. XRPL Labs is one of the cluster’s major contributors to processing power.

In September 2021, the XRPL endured record amounts of traffic. It was clear we needed more open, publicly accessible XRPL node capacity to increase the stability and security of the network.

To help improve the stability and availability by providing and maintaining public nodes, XRPL Labs launched the Adopt a Node initiative allowing individuals and organizations to support the XRPL network by adopting an XRPL node.

There are various types of XRPL nodes: supporting different functions like processing transactions, keeping transaction history, and relaying messages. Our initiative is aimed at supporting a public cluster for developers and applications strengthening the whole of the XRPL.

We were proud the day after the launch of the initiative, there were enough donations to fund six nodes.

As of February 4th, 2022, all servers were purchased, delivered, racked, and installed. This grew the XRPL Labs server cluster by 10 machines, a whopping 25% increase.

The Adopt a Node program has seen steady support, with many participants excited to be part of the network and contribute to its growth by increasing the number of nodes on the network.

We at XRPL Labs are moved by how many people in the community from all over the world and with a wide range of interests helped us. We also know not everyone has the money or technical skills to build such high-quality infrastructure.

The XRP Community Stepped Up BIG Time!

As of January 18th, 2023, the Adopt a Node program had received nearly €140K in contributions from 545 supporters, with most of it used to purchase the servers supporting the Adopt a Node program and the rest for ongoing expenses such as server replacements, bandwidth bills, and other expenses related to maintaining the nodes.

The high level of contributions shows the community’s strong desire to contribute to the growth and development of the ecosystem.

The Adopt a Node program is instrumental in ensuring the XRP Ledger network has minimal downtime.

For a detailed breakdown of the Adopt a Node contributions, including a list of contributors, click here.

How to Support the Adopt a Node Initiative

The nodes provided by the program make a difference but the care and feeding of these exotic beasts is ongoing. Parts will wear out, power and bandwidth costs are anything but stable, so continued support is needed.

There are several options for contributing to the initiative, including recurring support, adopting a shared node, and adopting an entire full history node.

Any amount helps with recurring support and is greatly appreciated and helps keep the nodes online.

The recurring support for the Adopt a Node initiative starts at €50 per month, while adopting a shared node one-time contribution starts at €100. There is also an option to donate a custom amount, as even the slightest sum helps us keep the XRPL Nodes online.

A one-time contribution of €20,000 enables us to set up an entire full history node, which will be named after the contributor.

Support the XRPL ecosystem by contributing to the Adopt a Node program on the opencollective website.

On December 15th, 2021, the xShrooms Community made XRPL history when we gifted 25k XRP for a Full History Node to support the structure of the XRP Ledger. The [donors] were [given] art [in return for their] donation and the goal was completed all in under 7 hours! This is the first NFT Community Donated Full History Node and all powered by the gift of art!

A BIG Thank You to All of the Supporters

On behalf of the XRPL Labs and the entire XRP Ledger community, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all those who have supported the Adopt a Node program.

The success of the program is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our participants, who play a crucial role in supporting the XRPL network.

Contributing to the Adopt a Node program means every time you or your friends use Xumm or a Ledger Nano or even third-party XRPL products you are being served by the machines powered by your donations.

We want to say a big thank you to all those who have supported the program thus far.

Your contributions are instrumental in keeping the XRP Ledger network running smoothly and securely.