Bank for International Settlements published a proof-of-concept paper testing XRP Ledger for anchoring and verifying official statistics on-chain with cryptographic hashing.
Regulation & Gov ·
The Bank for International Settlements has released Working Paper No 1374 examining the XRP Ledger as a mechanism for recording cryptographic fingerprints of official statistics datasets. The prototype addresses a core problem: how statistical agencies can enable independent verification of data integrity without overhauling their existing distribution channels. Rather than storing raw numbers on-chain, the system hashes datasets using SHA3-512, collapses those hashes into a Merkle root, and writes a single summary value to an XRPL Payment transaction's Memo field, keeping confidential information off-ledger while anchoring a verifiable cryptographic proof.
The approach avoids smart contracts and their associated costs by relying on XRPL's base fee of 0.00001 XRP per transaction, with batching allowing thousands of datasets to be anchored for a fraction of a cent each. Testing on XRPL's DevNet showed datasets publishing in three to five seconds and verifying in one to two. The work builds on prior BIS experiments with public blockchains, including Project Mariana, which tested central bank digital currency settlement across multiple central banks' infrastructure.
The paper emphasizes this remains an experimental proof-of-concept and does not constitute an endorsement of XRP or a path to adoption. Production deployment would require hardware-backed key signing, pinned validator nodes, and formal load testing. The ledger's role is limited to certifying what data was published, by which entity, and when—leaving open questions about broader institutional implementation.