Ripple's CTO David Schwartz has proposed two options for improving the fee system in XRP Ledger, focusing on fairness and efficiency in transaction processing.
Dynamics of Fees in XRP Ledger
Currently, fees in the XRP Ledger are dynamic but non-refundable. Users pay for transaction fees, and any amount exceeding the required minimum is burned. This raises questions about fairness and incentive design.
Proposed Improvements to the Fee System
Schwartz's first proposal suggests calculating the actual fee needed to include one more transaction post-consensus. Users who paid more than that would receive a rebate for the difference. This would maintain incentive alignment while ensuring users aren’t penalized for honest bids to guarantee inclusion.
His second proposal is to calculate the median fee of accepted transactions and refund anything paid above that. This is easier to implement, but might still lead to overpayment if everyone bids their maximum price.
Future of Updates and Challenges
While there is currently no official roadmap for implementing these proposals, open discussions indicate that Ripple's leadership is actively exploring better fee models. A challenge remains in getting all validators to agree on a post-consensus threshold without risking divergence.
The initiatives proposed by Schwartz aim to improve transparency and fairness in the XRP Ledger fee system. The discussion around these ideas highlights Ripple's commitment to enhancing its technologies and transaction management approaches.
