The XRP Ledger is preparing to activate an upgrade that would let businesses delegate specific account functions, including payments and customer approvals, without giving another account access to the full set of account controls.
The PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment began its 14-day activation period on Sept. 21 after 29 of the network’s 35 trusted validators voted in favor. If support stays at or above the 80% threshold, the amendment could activate on Oct. 5 at 11:18 UTC, according to the live amendment dashboard.
The feature is designed to give institutional users more flexibility in separating operational responsibilities. Stablecoin issuers, custodians and other businesses could delegate routine tasks to separate accounts while retaining control of the keys that govern their primary accounts.
For example, a compliance system connected to the internet could be authorized to approve customers who want to hold a stablecoin, while the issuer’s master keys remain offline. A separate operations account could receive permission to send payments without being able to modify the master keys or delegate its own authority.
XRPL documentation says an account can assign up to 10 permissions to each delegate. The primary account can subsequently modify or revoke those permissions.
The model allows different systems to handle specific functions rather than giving operational accounts unrestricted control. That structure is similar to traditional banking, where payment processing, compliance and other responsibilities are typically divided among separate teams and systems.
The amendment must retain support from at least 28 validators during the activation period. If the number falls below that threshold, the 14-day countdown starts over.
PermissionDelegationV1_1 is the second version of the feature proposed for the XRP Ledger. The original implementation was withdrawn after testing uncovered a security issue involving transaction fees.
The vulnerability could have allowed an attacker to make another account pay fees for transactions that the account had not properly signed. Repeated attempts using unusually high fees could potentially have reduced the victim’s XRP balance.
According to an XRPL vulnerability report, the earlier software checked whether an account was authorized to perform a transaction before confirming its signature. Some failed transactions could still generate fees, meaning funds could be deducted before the system established that the signature was invalid.
A community tester identified the issue on Sept. 15, 2025, while the feature was being tested outside the mainnet. Validators were instructed to reject the amendment, and the vulnerable version never became active.
The revised feature is included in xrpld 3.3.0, the software used to operate XRP Ledger nodes. The update changes the order in which unauthorized transactions are rejected, ensuring that a transaction cannot incur a fee before its signature is verified.
