Renewed interest in XRP and excitement over the upcoming Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin launch have driven a significant increase in user activity for Xaman, a self-custodial wallet built for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem.
The number of active weekly users on Xaman has surged 250% since summer, topping 212,000 active users last week, Xaman chief operating officer Robert Kiuru told Cointelegraph.
The spike in user activity on Xaman reflects a renewed interest in the XRPL ecosystem amid the ongoing rally of XRP (XRP) and community anticipation of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin launch.
Launched in March 2020, Xaman was formerly known as Xumm and has received indirect investment from Ripple’s investment arm Xpring, which rebranded to Ripplex in October 2020.
80,000 new users join Xaman amid XRP rally
As of December 2023, Xaman had around 80,000 active weekly users, which dipped to 60,000 users during summer 2024.
Xaman’s recent spike in user activity was driven by 80,000 newly signed-up users and many returning users as XRP briefly revisited the position of the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap on Dec. 2.
Top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko
“This growth reflects a renewed interest in XRP volatility and RLUSD launch,” Kiuru said, adding that 90% of the active user base spike should be attributed to the XRP price.
Xaman leverages XRPL fork for smart contracts
Rebranded from Xumm in May 2023, Xaman is a self-custodial wallet supporting on-ramps and off-ramps through platforms like Uphold’s Topper.
While XRPL itself doesn’t support smart contracts, Xaman features them on the Xahau Network, which is a separate blockchain and a fork of the XRPL, Xaman’s Kiuru said.
“Smart contracts on Xahau use Hooks, developed by XRPL Labs,” Kiuru noted, adding that the Hooks add lightweight functionality tailored for developers and users.
“Almost every XRPL project integrates with Xaman via ‘Sign in with Xumm,’ offering secure, seamless transactions,” he said.
Xaman secured indirect investment from Ripple in 2019 and 2020
Ripple’s investment arm Ripplex — then Xpring — backed Xaman through investment in XRPL Labs in 2019 and 2020.
“It was one of the first grantees from Ripple when it was funded by Xpring,” Kiuru said, adding that Xpring initially invested in XRPL Labs in early 2019.
Originally known as the Xumm wallet, Xaman was created by prominent Ripple developer Wietse Wind, who also released XRP applications like XRParrot and XRPTipBot.
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