Lower Reserves Are Now In Effect (2024)

Over the course of the past year, several members of the XRP Ledger community have advocated for lowering the reserve requirements in the network to compensate for the sustained increase in the price of XRP. On 2021-09-19, the new reserve values went into effect after gaining support from a majority of validators. The new reserve amounts are 10 XRP base for an account plus 2 XRP per object owned in the ledger, down from 20 XRP base and 5 XRP per object owned.

Impacts

Some XRP that was previously reserved is now available for use. Since the base reserve requirement has decreased from 20 to 10, accounts with a balance of at least 20 XRP now have access to the difference of 10 XRP, plus a decrease of 3 XRP per item owned (from 5 each to 2 each). For example, if your account owns 4 objects in the ledger, your reserve requirement decreased from 40 XRP (20 + 4×5) to 18 XRP (10 + 4×2).

It is now possible to fund new accounts by sending a payment of as little as 10 XRP; previously, at least 20 XRP was required.

The special transaction cost to delete an account is based on the owner reserve, so deleting an account now requires burning only 2 XRP instead of 5 XRP.

Action Recommended

Most XRP Ledger users and integrations do not need to take action to benefit from the reduced reserve. However, if you have software with a hard-coded reserve of 20 XRP, you should consider adjusting it to use the new values, or better yet, occasionally query the reserve information from the API:

To look up XRP reserves, see the server_info method's response. In particular, the validated_ledger.reserve_base_xrp field shows the base account reserve and the validated_ledger.reserve_inc_xrp shows the owner reserve (per item). You can also use the server_state method to get the values in drops of XRP.

Background

The XRP Ledger has reserve requirements to disincentivize spamming the ledger with data, which must be replicated throughout the network and maintained by all servers in the system. The base reserve (now 10 XRP) sets the minimum XRP that must be sent to create a new account, and the owner reserve (now 2 XRP per item) increases an account's reserve for each additional object the account owns in the ledger's state data, such as Offers, trust lines and Escrows.

The Fee Voting process lets validators in the decentralized XRP Ledger network collectively adjust the reserve requirements. One reason to adjust reserve requirements is to compensate for long-term changes in the value of XRP. Fee voting can adjust reserves in either direction, but as XRP Ledger expert David Schwartz notes, increases in the reserve are more painful for users than decreases, so validator operators should avoid lowering the reserve if doing so is likely to require an increase later.

The previous time the reserves changed was in December 2013, when 20 XRP was worth much less in fiat currency than it is today. The new 10 XRP reserve brings the fiat-currency cost of creating a new XRP Ledger account closer to the historical average.

XRP Ledger Foundation Statement

The XRP Ledger Foundation posted this statement about the change to Twitter:

We are very happy to see that the reserves have been voted down to 10/2 by validators. The foundation firmly believes in increasing accessibility to the XRP Ledger and hope this trend will continue in the same direction.

— XRP Ledger Foundation (Official) (@XRPLF) September 19, 2021
Lower Reserves Are Now In Effect (2024)

FAQs

Did the Fed get rid of reserve requirements? ›

But in March 2020, the Fed set reserve requirement ratios for transaction accounts to 0%, eliminating all reserve requirements. As a result, the Fed formally changed the name of the rate to “Interest on Reserve Balances” (IORB).

What is the current reserve requirement for banks in 2024? ›

Low Reserve Tranche Amounts and Exemption Amounts since 1982
Effective dateLow reserve tranche amount (millions of U.S. dollars)Exemption amount (millions of U.S. dollars)
January 14, 2021182.921.1
January 1, 2022640.632.4
January 1, 2023691.736.1
January 1, 2024644.036.1
40 more rows

What happens when the reserve requirement is decreased? ›

If the Federal Reserve decides to lower the reserve ratio through an expansionary monetary policy, commercial banks are required to keep less cash on hand and are able to increase the number of loans to give consumers and businesses. This increases the money supply, economic growth and the rate of inflation.

What happens when the federal government lowers the reserve requirement? ›

By increasing the reserve requirement, the Federal Reserve is essentially taking money out of the money supply and increasing the cost of credit. Lowering the reserve requirement pumps money into the economy by giving banks excess reserves, which promotes the expansion of bank credit and lowers rates.

What is the reserve requirement right now? ›

Effective March 26, 2020, the Board reduced reserve requirement ratios on all net transaction accounts to zero percent, eliminating reserve requirements for all depository institutions.

Is the Federal Reserve Act still in effect today? ›

The Federal Reserve Act has been amended by some 200 subsequent laws of Congress. It continues to be one of the principal banking laws of the United States.

What happens if a bank has an amount that is lower than the reserve requirement? ›

If on any given day, depositors withdraw their money from Bank One so that the amount in the vault (the reserve) is less than that required by the Federal Reserve, it must borrow the deficiency from another bank in the system that has an excess of funds in its reserve.

What is the current Federal Reserve discount rate? ›

US Discount Rate is at 5.50%, compared to 5.50% the previous market day and 5.25% last year.

What percentage of a bank are called required reserves? ›

The required reserves of a bank are a specific percentage of its B. Deposits. Banks accept deposits from those customers who save and then offer loans from these accepted deposits. However, not all deposits can be loaned out; there are reserve requirements that must be met according to the Federal Reserve.

How much cash do banks keep on hand? ›

While it enters the bank as one amount, it soon gets broken up. A small amount is set aside as cash reserves, either in the bank's vaults, at other banks or at the Federal Reserve. Banks have historically been required to keep a small stash of cash, typically between 3 and 10 percent of their deposits, on hand.

When the Fed wants to reduce bank reserves it can? ›

Answer and Explanation: The correct answer is option C) sell government bonds. To decrease the bank reserves, the fed aims to result in a cash outflow for the bank.

What does lower reserves requirements lead to? ›

Lowering the reserve requirement, and therefore reducing the demand for reserves, has roughly the same effect as an expansionary open market operation, which increases the supply of reserves: either action creates downward pressure on interest rates.

Do banks have to keep reserves? ›

Bank reserves are the minimal amounts of cash that banks are required to keep on hand in case of unexpected demand. Excess reserves are the additional cash that a bank keeps on hand and declines to lend out.

What would happen if we abolished the Federal Reserve? ›

With the Fed abolished, banks would be on their own; no more lender of last resort, or taxpayer bailouts. The inflation dragon would be slain. The boom-and-bust roller coaster ride leveled.

Would the Fed lower the reserve requirements during a recession? ›

During a recession, the appropriate monetary policy for the Fed is to buy government securities on the open market, increase the discount rate, and decrease reserve requirements.

Did the Fed change reserve requirements from 10 percent to 14 percent? ›

The Fed changes reserve requirements from 10 percent to 14 percent, thereby eliminating $750 million in excess reserves. The total change in deposits (with no drains) would be (rounded): $7.917 billion.

Has regulation D been suspended? ›

Key Takeaways. Regulation D was a federal law that limited the number of withdrawals or transfers you could make from a savings or money market account. That law was suspended in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, some banks still have withdrawal limits.

Do we still have the Federal Reserve System? ›

The U.S. central banking system—the Federal Reserve, or the Fed—is the most powerful economic institution in the United States, perhaps the world. Its core responsibilities include setting interest rates, managing the money supply, and regulating financial markets.

Did the Federal Reserve Act fail? ›

Lessons Learned from the Great Depression

The Federal Reserve failed in both parts of its mission. It did not use monetary policy to prevent deflation and the collapse of output and employment. And the Fed did not adequately perform its function as lender of last resort.

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