Ripple’s CTO Discusses Block Loss Issue in XRP Ledger

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David Schwartz addressed a significant issue regarding block loss in the XRP Ledger that has resurfaced within the XRP community.

Schwartz revealed that a software error during the initial development phase led to the loss of approximately 32,000 blocks.

The XRP Ledger, which supports the XRP coin, lacks data from these first 32,000 blocks, prompting claims of intentional deletion of block records. In response to the concerns raised in the community, Schwartz asserted in a social media post that the block loss was not deliberate.

He clarified, “Existing data wasn’t deleted to prevent further loss. There was no way to recover the lost data.” Addressing why the blockchain was not reset at the time, he explained, “Resetting the blockchain would have erased all data beyond block 32,000, rather than ensuring the integrity of the data.”

Currently, records on the XRP Ledger start at block number 32,570, indicating that the first 10 days of transaction history—representing around 32,000 blocks—are permanently lost.

Schwartz noted that this technical issue was first brought to light in May, attributing the data loss to a software error encountered while testing multiple ledger streams during early development. Although a plan to reset the system was proposed after the error was discovered, it was never executed.

Ultimately, the Ripple team opted to maintain the system in its current state to safeguard subsequent blocks, even at the expense of the initial ones.

*This is not investment advice.