TLDR
- XRPresso said XRPL users may face front-running risks from fast nodes before ledger validation closes.
- David Schwartz said validator access alone does not create a special advantage for front-running.
- Schwartz said a transaction reservation scheme could help users protect trades from later transactions.
- Halborn completed Ripple’s XRPL Lending Protocol re-audit and found no critical issues.
- XRPL v3.2.0 amendment voting continues as validators review lending and security-related upgrades.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz responded to fresh concerns about possible front-running on the XRP Ledger, after XRPL marketplace XRPresso said regular users may face disadvantages before transactions close on the ledger.
XRPresso said validators and well-connected nodes can see pending transactions in the pre-validation queue before a ledger closes. The post said such visibility could allow fast actors to study a pending trade and try to place their own transactions ahead of it.
Schwartz said the concern is “true,” but added that several factors reduce the risk. He said transactions are publicly visible before a ledger closes and that running a validator does not help unless several validators work together.
Ripple CTO Says Validator Role Does Not Give Easy Advantage
Schwartz said “everyone has an equal opportunity” to view pending transactions because they are public before final validation. He said validators sign proposals and validations, which would leave clear evidence if a validator tried to propose transactions that other nodes had not seen in time.
He also said any attempt to front-run without validator collusion would require several signed and public transactions. In his view, such activity would be visible to the network and could lead users to remove a validator from trusted lists.
This is true, but is mitigated by a number of factors.
For one thing, everyone has an equal opportunity to do this. Transactions are publicly visible before a ledger closes.
Running a validator does not help you do this unless multiple validators conspire. If multiple…
— David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 29, 2026
XRPresso pushed back, saying public visibility is not always equal in practice. The account said validators and well-connected nodes may still gain an edge through latency and faster reaction time.
Schwartz answered that most healthy nodes should see new transactions at about the same time. He said the software relays transactions aggressively, with servers sharing new transactions across the network.
Transaction Reservation Scheme Proposed as Possible Fix
Schwartz said he has not seen evidence of real front-running on XRPL beyond proof-of-concept attempts. He added that such attacks face practical limits because they need both enough liquidity for profit and enough price movement to make the trade worthwhile.
He said “milliseconds won’t matter” because XRPL operates on a time frame of seconds. He said any edge would more likely come from capital, fast analysis, and quick transaction signing rather than from running a validator.
Schwartz also proposed a possible transaction reservation scheme for users who want stronger protection. Under the idea, a user would reserve a slot by naming a ledger sequence number and transaction ID, while paying a reservation fee.
If the reservation succeeds and the user broadcasts the planned transaction before that ledger closes, the transaction would execute before any transaction that did not reserve a slot in the same ledger. Schwartz said this would require two transactions but would help prevent sandwiching or front-running after disclosure.
Halborn Clears XRPL Lending Protocol Re-Audit
The front-running debate came as blockchain security firm Halborn completed a re-audit of the XRPL Lending Protocol for Ripple. Halborn said the review followed major code changes and found no critical issues.
The Lending Protocol is built on the XLS-66 standard and is designed to support fixed-term, uncollateralized loans using pooled funds from a Single Asset Vault. The re-audit checked transaction validation, state consistency, accounting accuracy, parameter validation, access controls, and code changes.
Halborn said all reported findings were addressed by the XLS-66 developers. The result added to the community discussion about XRPL security as the network moves toward more native DeFi features.
XRPL Foundation contributor and dUNL validator Vet said the network is reaching a healthy balance between security and use-case development. He said the process is becoming a new framework for evolving XRPL while keeping safety in focus.
The audit update arrived during active voting on XRPL v3.2.0 amendments. Ripple has voted in favor of the fixCleanup3_2_0 amendment, while validators and node operators continue reviewing upgrades before wider activation.
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