XRP Ledger Emergency Patch Fixes Decade-Old Bug That Could Mint Billions of XRP Out of Thin Air

Researchers uncovered a decade-old flaw in the XRP Ledger that allowed a specially crafted payment to generate spendable XRP without any funds from the sender, threatening to mint billions of XRP out of thin air.

The discovery forced Ripple’s developers to issue an emergency patch, closing the loophole before attackers could exploit it; the swift response highlights ongoing crypto security challenges and underscores why vigilant monitoring of blockchain vulnerabilities remains critical for market stability.