XRPL DEX Fees Explained
The XRP Ledger has the lowest trading fees in crypto. Here is exactly what you pay and where those fees go.
Transaction Fees
Every transaction on the XRPL costs approximately 0.000012 XRP (12 drops) - roughly $0.000017 at XRP $1.40. This fee is burned, meaning it is permanently destroyed. It is not paid to validators, node operators, or anyone else. This makes XRP slightly deflationary over time.
The fee scales with network load to prevent spam, but even during peak activity it remains a fraction of a cent. There are no gas auctions or fee bidding wars like on Ethereum.
AMM Trading Fees
Trades routed through AMM pools pay a trading fee of 0% to 1%, set by LP vote. This fee goes entirely to liquidity providers as compensation for supplying capital to the pool. The network does not take a cut.
Trades on the CLOB order book have no trading fee beyond the base transaction cost. The XRPL automatically routes your trade through whichever combination of CLOB and AMM gives the best total price including fees.
Transfer Fees
Token issuers can optionally set a transfer fee (0-100%) that applies when their token is sent between wallets. This fee goes to the token issuer, not the network. Most tokens have 0% transfer fee. You can check any token's transfer fee on its detail page on XRPL.to.
Reserve Requirements
| Object | Reserve (XRP) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Account activation | 1 | ~$1.40 — refundable on account delete |
| Trustline | 0.2 | ~$0.28 — per token, refundable on removal |
| Open offer | 0.2 | ~$0.28 — per limit order, refundable on cancel |
| Signer list entry | 0.2 | ~$0.28 — for multi-sign setups |
Reserves are not fees - they are XRP locked while the object exists. Delete the object and the XRP becomes spendable again. See the trustline guide for details.
Where Fees Go
Transaction fees
Burned. Permanently destroyed. No one profits.
AMM trading fees
Paid to liquidity providers. Earn by supplying pool capital.
Transfer fees
Paid to the token issuer. Most tokens set this to 0%.
XRPL vs Other Chains
| Cost | XRPL | Ethereum | Solana | BSC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tx fee | $0.00002 | $1-50+ | $0.00025 | $0.03 |
| Swap cost | $0.00002 | $5-100+ | $0.01 | $0.10 |
| AMM fee | 0-1% | 0.3% | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| MEV risk | None | High | Medium | Medium |
| Fee spikes | No | Yes (gas wars) | Rare | Rare |
No Hidden Costs
The XRPL has no gas auction: the fee is a flat anti-spam cost and the consensus protocol does not let validators reorder transactions for profit, so nobody can pay to land ahead of you. Front-running is still possible — competitors race for the same ledger and sometimes win the ordering lottery — but it cannot be bought, which is why it pays far less here than on Ethereum (how XRPL front-running actually works).
Front-End Fees Are Separate
Everything above is what the ledger charges. Anything built on top of it may add its own fee, and that is not a protocol cost — it is the service's. Swapping through xrpl.to adds 0.4%, submitted as a separate payment alongside your trade and shown in the confirmation preview before you sign. Placing a limit order yourself on the order book, or trading direct from your own wallet, pays only the ledger costs above.
Start Trading
Trade on the XRPL order book and AMM. Every cost — network fee, pool fee, and our 0.4% swap fee — is shown before you sign.