CryptoSlate
Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery found that just 110 wallets generated 99.6% of all RLUSD payments on the XRP Ledger between Sept. 19 and Oct. 18, executing roughly 7.8 million transactions that moved only $7,722 worth of Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin. The wallets averaged sub-cent payments to three collector addresses, accounting for 45.6% of all XRPL account-to-account activity during one week. On Sept. 26, RLUSD recorded 573,589 payments, but only 388 involved transfers worth at least $1.
Why it matters
RLUSD's headline transaction counts have been climbing as Ripple expands the stablecoin's footprint, and the market has read that growth as adoption. Bitquery's cluster analysis undercuts that read by separating automated dust from real settlement. The bot operation was cheap, roughly 495 XRP ($648) in fees across 8.6 million transactions, and the cluster was funded through Binance-labeled addresses, with collected funds routed back through exchange-like deposit accounts. Bitquery could not establish who operated the cluster.
The pattern matters for how on-chain metrics get used as proxies for adoption across crypto, not just for RLUSD. Networks with near-zero fees invite exactly this kind of volume inflation, and transaction counts alone stop being a meaningful adoption signal once a single cluster can manufacture 99.6% of activity.
Market impact
The bots went quiet before the headlines did. Payments to the largest collector crashed from roughly 8,200 per hour to 1,200 on Oct. 14, then to zero by Oct. 15. Daily RLUSD payments fell to about 2,000 by Oct. 17, down from a September peak above 500,000. The collapse coincided with Cross River Bank's Oct. 15 announcement that it had integrated RLUSD into its core banking platform, though Bitquery found no protocol change or direct link to the shutdown.
Beneath the bot traffic, real value flows did remain. Roughly 14,600 payments worth at least $1 moved $7.33 billion during the period, with 828 payments of at least $1 million accounting for $6.98 billion, about 95% of larger-payment volume.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Bitquery find about RLUSD activity on the XRP Ledger?
Bitquery found that just 110 wallets generated 99.6% of all RLUSD payments on XRPL between Sept. 19 and Oct. 18, moving only $7,722 across roughly 7.8 million transactions.
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How much did the bot operation cost to run?
The 110 wallets spent approximately 495 XRP, valued at $648, on fees across 8.6 million transactions, including transfers involving XRP itself.
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Why did the automated wallet activity collapse in mid-October?
Bitquery found no protocol change or fee increase explaining the shutdown, and no direct link to Cross River Bank's Oct. 15 RLUSD integration announcement. The cause remains unconfirmed.
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What real RLUSD transaction value sits beneath the bot traffic?
Roughly 14,600 payments worth at least $1 moved $7.33 billion during the period, with 828 payments of at least $1 million accounting for $6.98 billion, about 95% of larger-payment volume.
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What does this mean for how RLUSD adoption gets measured?
Transaction counts alone are not a reliable adoption signal when a single cluster can drive 99.6% of activity. Ripple's real adoption challenge is converting banking integrations into independent business usage.
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