XRPL Credentials & On-Chain Identity
Since 4 September 2025 the XRP Ledger can record that someone has checked an account, without the documents: an issuer creates a credential, the account accepts it, and other accounts or order books can require it. It is how regulated firms can trade on the same ledger as everyone else.
How a credential works
- 1. The issuer checks youissuer
Off the ledger, the way it checks anyone: documents, a call, a contract.
- 2. It records a credentialissuer
A ledger object naming the issuer, your account and a type such as “KYC”, with an optional expiry.
- 3. You accept ityou
Until the subject accepts, the credential does not count anywhere.
- 4. Others require itanyone
An account that only takes payments from credential holders, or an order book only they can trade on.
Where it is used
- Accepting payments. An account with Deposit Authorization can let in anyone holding a given credential; a payment to it carries the credential’s ID, up to eight of them (xrpl.org).
- Permissioned domains and order books. A domain lists the credentials it accepts; since 18 February 2026 an order book can be tied to a domain, so only holders trade on it (permissioned DEX).
- The open market is unchanged. Ordinary order books and AMM pools stay open to every account.
The transactions
| Transaction | Sent by | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CredentialCreate | The issuer | Records a credential for an account: a type of up to 64 bytes, an optional expiry and an optional link of up to 256 bytes. |
| CredentialAccept | The account it names | Makes it count. The account takes over the 0.2 XRP reserve for it. |
| CredentialDelete | Either of them; anyone once it has expired | Removes it, which is how an issuer revokes one. |
What is public
The documents stay with the issuer, but the credential itself is on the ledger for anyone to read: which issuer vouched for which address, and for what. An account holding a KYC credential from a known firm is, to anyone who looks, an account that firm has identified.
Identifiers (DIDs)
Since 30 October 2024 an account can also publish a decentralised identifier: a DID object holding a link to an identity document, or the data itself, that the account alone controls (xrpl.org). Where a credential is someone else vouching for you, a DID is you describing yourself.
Questions
- What are XRP Ledger credentials?
- A record on the ledger that an issuer has vouched for an account, with a type such as KYC. The documents behind it stay with the issuer. Credentials have been switched on since 4 September 2025.
- Are my identity documents stored on the XRP Ledger?
- No. Only the issuer, your account, the credential type, an optional expiry and an optional link are recorded. Anyone can see that the issuer vouched for your address, so the link between the two is public.
- Do I need a credential to trade on the XRP Ledger?
- No. The ledger’s ordinary order books and AMM pools are open to every account. Credentials are needed only for permissioned order books and for accounts that choose to accept payments only from credential holders.