XRP Ledger x402 Payments Pass 10 Million, but XRP Demand Is Unclear

The XRP Ledger has passed 10 million x402 payments, RippleX engineering head J. Ayo Akinyele said on X. The milestone came less than three months after the first million, turning AI agent payments into one of the network's fastest-growing use cases on paper.

But the number needs context. These are tracked payments, not audited proof that 10 million independent customers used XRPL. The activity also combines XRP and RLUSD settlements, so it does not directly show how much demand exists for XRP.

What The 10 Million Payments Measure

The XRPL AI Hub describes itself as an open community for builders, agents and services on the XRP Ledger. Its current page shows a seven-day average of 546,333 payments settled per day.

Akinyele said most payment volume still comes from AI agents buying inference and data. He also said the services are beginning to widen into financial data, risk, credit and other agent APIs.

That is useful evidence of broader activity. It is not, by itself, evidence that XRP buyers are forming.

Why Transaction Count Is Not XRP Demand

A payment can settle in XRP or RLUSD. Paying an AI service in RLUSD does not require its customer to buy XRP, and the hub's payment count does not separate those two forms of settlement.

A September 8 snapshot of the t54 dashboard showed 4,491,820 tracked transactions. The associated settlements were 5,836.71 XRP and 4,125.29 RLUSD. Those figures covered the hub's activity rather than every payment on XRPL, and the dashboard did not explain whether its transaction count represented unique payments or individual ledger objects.

So, if you are watching this because you hold XRP, the more useful question is whether usage creates a sustained need for the asset.

XRPL Still Requires XRP For Fees

XRPL transaction fees still require XRP, even when a service settles in RLUSD. The standard minimum is 10 drops, although the fee can rise under network load. Those transaction fees are burned rather than sent to XRP holders or validators.

That creates a direct connection between network activity and XRP. However, the available settlement figures do not show how large that fee demand has become. Transaction growth and token demand are not the same measure.

What The Listings Look Like

The services listed on the hub also tend to be inexpensive. Examples include 0.01 RLUSD per business-order preparation call, 0.01 XRP for one service and 0.0005 XRP for another. Its live feed shows individual payments measured in thousandths of a dollar, marked as unverified.

That suggests a high-frequency payment market built around small purchases. It does not show a buyer accumulating XRP.

Akinyele previously said XRPL could pass 10 million payments and might reach 100 million within a couple of years. That remains his projection. The milestone now reached is transaction growth, while sustained XRP demand still requires clearer settlement and fee data.