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XRP Ledger developers have proposed four changes to close gaps in token approval rules, while David Schwartz has separately rejected native staking. The changes target ways restricted tokens could reach accounts without an issuer's consent. The proposals form an upgrade called fixCleanup3_5_0, which remains inactive. The token changes and Schwartz's staking remarks concern separate features of the broader XRP Ledger.
The XRP Ledger Foundation calls the effort routine protocol maintenance, not a response to a security incident. The Foundation says developers are discussing what the protocol must prevent, rather than reporting an attack or confirmed affected users. It knows of no outsider who exploited the remaining exceptions to obtain restricted tokens.
Some issuers require approval before users can hold their tokens. This option supports identity checks for assets such as stablecoins and tokenized funds. On the XRP Ledger, issuers control that approval through trust lines connecting holders to token issuers.
Developers found cases where existing checks did not cover every route a token might take. Four proposed code updates aim to close those exceptions. None has entered the ledger's main software.
One change addresses automated market makers, which exchange tokens through pools. Before an account could join a pool, it would need approval for both tokens involved. Participants receive tokens representing their pool shares.
Another change targets trust lines with existing balances. Previously, one approval check applied only when the balance was zero. Accounts that already held restricted tokens could therefore receive more without that check.
The proposed upgrade also includes a broader safeguard intended to apply approval requirements across current and future features. Developers seek consistent rules for how restricted tokens move between accounts.
The XRP Ledger Foundation said developers had examined how restricted tokens could reach accounts without approval. Earlier work addressed a route involving NFT transactions. A fix in August 2025 closed that path.
Hussein “Vet” Zangana, the Foundation's director of community and product, said the discussion concerns protocol guarantees rather than identified victims. He said known unapproved balances came from issuers or accounts those issuers previously approved.
The Foundation knows of no outsider who used the remaining gaps to create an unapproved balance. Zangana also reported no known holder who received such tokens through a trade.
Under the proposal, accounts holding restricted tokens without approval could send those assets only to the issuer. Normal use would remain unavailable unless the issuer approved the holder.
An issuer could grant that approval later by authorizing the account's trust line. The holder could then use the tokens normally.
Before activation, developers must merge the four changes into the XRP Ledger software. The fixCleanup3_5_0 upgrade would then need more than 80% support from trusted validators for two consecutive weeks.
Read More: XRP Ledger Without XRP Reserves: How Zero-Balance Wallets Could Work
Separately, David Schwartz, the XRP Ledger's chief architect and Ripple's chief technology officer emeritus, has opposed native staking. Speaking at Ripple Swell, he said the feature would not fit the ledger's design.
Where would rewards for native XRP staking come from? Schwartz raised that question while explaining his objections. He argued that holding XRP gives no ownership rights over the ledger.
He also said holders cannot charge others for using the network. The XRP Ledger, he argued, is a public resource that nobody owns. Those points underpin his concerns about staking rewards.
Schwartz compared a network distributing user-generated payments to holders with a company paying shareholders. He said such a structure would resemble how companies and securities operate, rather than commodities.
He tied that difference to the debate over XRP's legal classification. His comments focused on the proposed source of staking yield and the rights that XRP ownership does not provide.
The XRP Ledger's proposed fixes seek to close approval gaps affecting restricted tokens, with no known outsider exploitation reported. The changes remain inactive until developers merge them and validators approve the upgrade. Separately, David Schwartz opposes native staking because XRP holders lack ownership rights over the network.