Altcoins News

Story: Ripple’s Former Chief Engineer Slams 1,300x XRPL Memo Field Expansion

By Sydney TheCMO

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What a 1.3 MB Memo Field Actually Means. Every node on the XRP Ledger keeps a full copy of the transaction history.

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Hamilton's Fix: Use Filecoin, Leave XRPL Alone. Hamilton isn't saying don't store files. He's saying don't store them on XRPL.

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Matt Hamilton didn't mince words. Ripple's former chief engineer called a proposed expansion of the XRP Ledger's transaction Memo field "a really bad idea" — and he's got reasons…

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The proposal, backed by members of the XRPL Foundation, wants to raise the Memo field limit from 1 KB to 1.3 MB. That's a 1,200-times increase.

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Every node on the XRP Ledger keeps a full copy of the transaction history. That's how the network works. It's also why Hamilton's warning carries weight.

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Hardware requirements would follow. Bigger database means more storage, more processing, more cost. For large institutional node operators, that's annoying but manageable.

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Hamilton's criticism isn't just theoretical. He's pointing at a structural reality: the ledger was never designed for this.

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Hamilton isn't saying don't store files. He's saying don't store them on XRPL. His suggestion is to use decentralized storage networks — he specifically names Filecoin — for…

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See also: Bitcoin Stagnates at $64,000 as Clarity Act Stalls in Congress

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The hybrid approach he's pushing would link XRPL with specialized storage networks. Users get the functionality they want. The ledger stays lean.

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There's a broader point buried in his argument too. Blockchain communities keep running into the same tension: the pull toward adding new features versus the discipline of…

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The XRPL Foundation members backing the proposal haven't backed down, though. The debate is ongoing, and it's unclear yet how the community will ultimately land on this.

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What's clear is that the stakes aren't trivial. If the proposal passes and large files start flowing through the ledger, the database growth could become unsustainable in ways…

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Read also: XRP ETF Inflows Crater 79% as CLARITY Act Stalls Before Senate Recess

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Hamilton's read is that the right moment to stop this is now, before it starts. Use Filecoin. Keep XRPL fast.

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