Energy Consumption Analysis of XRP Validator

Abstract

The XRP Ledger is an open-source payment system with a primary focus on providing an efficient cross-border payment network. The network achieves distributed consensus and prevents double-spending all while remaining decentralized. Digital currencies which rely on proof-of-work strategies generally consume a great deal of energy. The XRP Ledger, on the other hand, uses the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol, a unique process which is based on Byzantine agreement. The advancement of the XRP Ledger relies on the agreement of validator nodes which propose candidate transaction sets to be included in the next ledger through an iterative consensus process. Unlike Bitcoin miners, there is no equivalent reward scheme to incentivize volunteers to run XRP validator nodes. In this article, the energy consumption of an XRP validator is studied. Specifically, both the wall socket energy and the CPU package energy are measured using a software-based energy profiler and external measurement tools across 30 minute intervals. Various parameters in the configuration settings are also modified to study whether there is a significant change in the energy consumed. Using these results, estimated annual electricity costs are compared.