The XRP Ledger Foundation has reported more than 1.7 million daily developer requests through its free Ankr-powered nodes, sharing a usage update on Nov. 12 for infrastructure launched in August.
Summary
- More than 1.7 million developer requests reach the Ankr-powered XRPL nodes every 24 hours.
- Free mainnet and testnet access requires no API key or registration, according to the announcement.
- Public access carries rate limits, while Ankr’s documentation lists roughly two weeks of ledger history.
- Ankr’s separate Ethereum bridge suffered an exploit on Nov. 9 involving unauthorized token withdrawals.
The XRP Ledger Foundation said in its announcement that it had expanded public infrastructure with free access to XRPL nodes through Ankr. Its accompanying graphic lists separate mainnet and testnet connections, allowing developers to access the live network or work in a testing environment.
“They now handle over 1,700,000 developer requests every 24 hours,” the foundation wrote.
XRP Ledger usage update follows August rollout
The foundation introduced the Ankr node rollout on Aug. 3, as crypto.news previously reported. At launch, the infrastructure included nodes in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Singapore, with traffic routed between locations.
Ankr’s own launch announcement carries the same date and describes access to both XRPL mainnet and testnet without requiring developers to operate their own nodes.
The company said its XRPL service supported 43 methods, covering account information, ledger data, transactions, payment paths and server information. Available functions include checking balances and trust lines, retrieving exchange offers, querying automated market maker instances and submitting transactions.
Developers can preview transaction results through a simulation method before sending them, according to Ankr. Other methods return information about payment channels, network fees, and protocol amendments.
Free XRPL access comes with service limits
The service’s public portal lists mainnet.xrpl-rpc.com for the live ledger and testnet.xrpl-rpc.com for testing. Both appear in the foundation’s Nov. 12 graphic, which advertises access without an API key or sign-up.
According to the portal, the free tier supports standard JSON-RPC methods, applies a community rate limit, and offers best-effort availability. Its FAQ specifies that public access is rate-limited per IP address.
Paid offerings are listed separately, with higher throughput, dedicated keys, and service commitments. The free endpoint does not carry the same advertised uptime commitment as the premium tier.
Ankr’s technical documentation says its XRPL full nodes retain roughly the latest two weeks of history, equivalent to around 360,000 to 380,000 ledgers. Requests for older transactions or ledgers fail when the required data falls outside that window.
The documentation directs applications needing deep historical records to a dedicated archive or explorer service.
Within the available history, Ankr lists account transaction lookups and individual ledger queries among its supported methods. Its account tools can retrieve NFTs, owned ledger objects, and the currencies an account can send or receive.
Public XRPL providers offer different access options
XRPL’s official server directory lists other public connections operated by Ripple, InFTF and Honeycluster, including services with full ledger history.
The directory cautions that Ripple’s public servers are not intended for sustained or business use and may become unavailable. It recommends running a server or contracting a trusted operator for regular use.
US locations form part of Ankr’s public network: its portal lists nodes in New York and San Francisco alongside Singapore and Amsterdam. The portal says it monitors the underlying nodes and automatically routes traffic to suitable connections.
Developer work continues on proposed network features. A Nov. 11 update on XRPL lending development described ongoing testing of lending and single-asset vault tools, with both amendments still awaiting sufficient validator backing for mainnet activation.
Ankr bridge exploit involved Ethereum withdrawals
Separately, Blockaid identified an Ethereum bridge exploit involving Ankr on Nov. 9. The reported attack involved five unauthorized withdrawals and more than $303,000 in priced assets.
The security firm said a small Optimism deposit was used to withdraw assets from the Ethereum bridge. Transaction analysis described the reuse of a deposit that had already been redeemed, with modified withdrawal information covering different assets and amounts.
The initial report did not establish that Ankr’s RPC infrastructure or personal wallets had been compromised. Ankr had not responded to that report’s questions about affected services and possible reimbursements by its publication time.
