XRP Ledger uses QuestDB for real-time blockchain analytics

The Inclusive Financial Technology Foundation (previously XRP Ledger Foundation) needs fast, modern tooling for the XRP Ledger, a rapidly evolving L1 blockchain with over 1500 applications. The ecosystem, including the Xahau smart contract sidechain, continues to grow.

Handling vast transaction data

A large amount of transaction data is being processed on the XRP Ledger and the Xahau Network.

They use QuestDB to provide an API that formats transaction data based on transaction time, enabling user-facing applications to retrieve data in an organized, human-friendly format.

Why XRP Ledger chose QuestDB

Daniel Siedentopf, Technical Team Lead, explains that the XRP Ledger Foundation needed a robust database to take over the role previously filled by their former engine, which had been discontinued because of its high operational cost. The replacement had to handle large volumes of time series data generated by blockchain transactions, support complex queries, and deliver high reliability and performance.

The team evaluated several time series databases, including InfluxDB and TimescaleDB, using performance benchmarks as the main decision factor. QuestDB was selected because it delivered better query speed and data throughput than the alternatives, which is critical for XRPL workloads where real-time processing and fast access to historical data are essential.

Open source was another important requirement. QuestDB's open source model aligned with the foundation's operational philosophy and gave the team flexibility as their architecture evolves.

In production, QuestDB now powers complex queries across hundreds of gigabytes of data that span many years of transaction history. Being able to query this extensive historical dataset in milliseconds has a direct impact on XRPL's ability to provide timely and accurate data to the ecosystem.

SQL for comprehensive data retrieval

This query retrieves 'Candle Stick' market data (OHLC) for the EUR/XRP trading pair on the XRP Ledger. It leverages SAMPLE BY to summarize large datasets into an aggregate of 1D time chunks as part of a SELECT statement. All together, it is organized by time, filled for accuracy and cleanliness, and very fast.

SELECT *
FROM (
  SELECT
    ts AS timestamp,
    first(rate) AS open,
    last(rate) AS close,
    min(rate) AS low,
    max(rate) AS high,
    sum(volume_a) AS base_volume,
    sum(volume_b) AS counter_volume,
    count(*) AS exchanges
  FROM
    offer_exchanges
  WHERE
    pair = 'rhub8VRN6jmDy1pUykJzF3wq+EUR|XRP'
    AND ts >= '2022-12-19T02:35:42.000Z'
    AND ts <= '2024-06-19T13:35:11.169Z'
  SAMPLE BY 1d
  FILL (0,PREV,0,0,0,0,0)
  ALIGN TO CALENDAR
  ORDER BY timestamp DESC
)
WHERE
  timestamp >= '2022-12-19T00:00:00.000Z'
  AND timestamp <= '2024-06-19T00:00:00.000Z'

Reliable data handling

QuestDB lives in XRP Ledger's architecture for real-time data handling.

Data deduplication

Deduplication ensures clean data ingestion

SQL simplicity

Query and update predictions using familiar SQL

Prediction power

High speed and efficiency in data aggregation

Growing with XRP Ledger

With QuestDB, charts and analytics are built for over 46,000 unique trading pairs. Interfacing with the XRP Ledger L1 blockchain and the Xahau Network for smart contracts is demanding work. Together, QuestDB and Inclusive Financial Technology Foundation team are well positioned to handle both present and future growth.

See also

• QuestDB vs TimescaleDB benchmark
• QuestDB vs InfluxDB benchmark