Safer than Bitcoin? Review Shows 23 Billion XRP in Quantum-Safe Wallets
A full audit of all 7.8 million XRP Ledger accounts reveals that 23.16 billion XRP sits in wallets considered safe from quantum computing threats, whereas 76.82 billion XRP across 5.6 million accounts remains exposed. The analysis, conducted by XRPL validator Vet, categorized every wallet based on whether its public key has ever been visible on-chain. For XRP holders and the general crypto market, the findings put a number on a risk many networks have only discussed in theory.
How 27% of XRP Wallets Earned Quantum-Safe Status
When a wallet signs a transaction on the XRP Ledger, its public key gets published. A future quantum computer powerful enough to run Shor’s algorithm could, in theory, reverse-engineer the private key from that public key. Wallets that have never signed anything keep their public key hidden.
According to Vet’s breakdown, over 24% of all XRPL accounts fall into this never-signed category. Another 2.65% took a more deliberate route, which involves rotating their keys and disabling master keys as extra protection. Together, these groups account for close to 2.13 million wallets holding 23.16 billion XRP, or about 23% of total supply.
Ripple’s multi-signature escrow wallets, which hold 36.60 billion XRP, sit outside this protected group. Multi-sig accounts are not automatically quantum-resistant. Without active key management, they carry the same exposure as any wallet that has transacted on-chain.
Dormant Wallets Present the Toughest Problem
The 96% of exposed XRP belongs to active users who can, when necessary, migrate to safer addresses. The remaining fraction belongs to dormant accounts. Wallets inactive for five or more years hold 2.94% of total XRP supply. At the extreme end, pre-2014 accounts represent just 0.02% of supply across 14,710 wallets.
These abandoned wallets are the core of the problem. Lost keys and forgotten credentials mean there is no one to initiate a migration. Vet compared this to Bitcoin’s Satoshi-era holdings, which represent roughly 5% of BTC supply and will likely never move.
Ripple has published a four-phase roadmap to make the XRP Ledger fully quantum-resistant by 2028, compared to Zcash’s 2027 projection. Early testing is already underway. The plan includes quantum-resistant encryption that will allow active users to move funds into protected accounts. For wallets with no one at the controls, the exposure stays permanent.