Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
-
A temporary decline in validator support reset the XRP Ledger bug fix’s activation countdown.
-
Support fell to 26 validators on Wednesday before recovering to the required 29.
-
The fix is now scheduled for November 4 at 14:46 UTC, provided support holds.
-
Backing has since increased to 31 of 35 validators, creating a two-vote cushion.
Validator Support Drop Resets Activation Clock
The XRP Ledger’s latest bug-fix amendment has been delayed until November after a brief drop in validator support interrupted its mandatory approval period.
The amendment, called fixCleanup3_4_0, had been expected to activate at 09:34 UTC on October 23. However, support fell below the required threshold less than two days before that deadline, restarting the countdown.
Changes to the network’s rules require backing from more than 80% of the 35 validators trusted by default, equivalent to at least 29 validators.
Support is checked approximately every 15 minutes and must remain above the threshold at every checkpoint for 14 consecutive days. A single failed check resets the process.
The amendment had exactly 29 supporting validators on Monday, leaving no cushion against a temporary loss of votes.
At 12:54 UTC on Wednesday, the count dropped to 26, according to XRPL Dashboard. By 14:46 UTC, support had recovered to 29, and a fresh two-week countdown began.
XRPLWin now lists the expected activation time as 14:46 UTC on November 4. That timing remains conditional on uninterrupted support throughout the new approval period.
Backing has subsequently risen to 31 of 35 validators, giving the amendment two votes above the minimum required.
Neither tracker identifies which validators stopped contributing support during the interruption.
The decline also does not necessarily indicate deliberate opposition. Votes count only from validators the network can hear from at each checkpoint, meaning an offline or restarting server can have the same effect on the tally as a validator withholding approval.
Patch Addresses Token and Lending Issues
According to the xrpld 3.4.0 release notes, fixCleanup3_4_0 closes a loophole that could allow an account authorized only to burn an issuer’s tokens to create new tokens under certain conditions.
The patch also adjusts how lending code determines whether a loan is late or in default.
Those fixes relate partly to a lending system Ripple has promoted to banks and payment companies since June.
Under the proposed model, lenders deposit XRP or other tokens into vaults. A loan broker then lends those assets for a fixed term, with the ledger recording the loan and tracking repayments.
The lending system remained inactive as of Thursday. Activation of the bug-fix amendment would address its code but would not, by itself, switch on the separate lending functionality.
