A Bitquery study of XRP Ledger activity between September 19 and October 18 has identified 110 bot wallets making RLUSD payments, separating automated transaction counts from billions of dollars in larger transfers that include issuer flows. The findings put a spotlight on the ledger's booming activity at a time when network usage is already drawing closer attention.
What the bot wallets were doing
The 110 wallets flagged in the study were responsible for RLUSD payments, the dollar-denominated token issued on the XRP Ledger. Bitquery's analysis didn't lump all of that activity together with the rest of the network's volume. Instead, the study separated the automated transaction counts from the larger transfers, which include flows from the issuer itself. That distinction matters because issuer flows can inflate raw activity numbers without reflecting organic, user-driven demand.
The study covered a one-month window, which gives it a defined scope but also limits how far the conclusions can stretch. What it shows is that a relatively small set of automated wallets was generating RLUSD payment traffic during that period. What it doesn't show is how much of the total ledger activity those wallets represent, or whether the pattern continued after October 18.
Why the RLUSD numbers are hard to read
Separating bot activity from issuer transfers is the crux of the problem. On a public ledger, every transaction is visible, but the line between a payment made by a person and one fired off by a script isn't always obvious. Bitquery's approach was to pull the automated counts out and treat them on their own, rather than folding them into a single headline figure. That's a more careful method than simply tallying total transfers, but it also means the study's output is a set of categories rather than one clean number.
The larger transfers — the ones measured in billions and tied partly to issuer flows — sit in a different bucket. Those aren't necessarily suspicious. Issuers move large amounts as part of normal operations, and a token's early life often involves substantial treasury or liquidity transfers. Still, when those flows are counted alongside retail-sized payments, the result can look like broader adoption than is actually there.
The scrutiny landing on XRP Ledger activity
XRP Ledger has been busy, and that busyness is now the subject of examination rather than just celebration. The Bitquery study adds a concrete data point to a broader question about how much of the network's on-chain activity is automated. Bot wallets aren't inherently illegitimate — market makers, arbitrage systems, and payment routers all use automation — but a count of 110 wallets making RLUSD payments is the kind of detail that invites a closer look at who or what is behind the traffic.
The study's timing, covering a month from mid-September to mid-October, means it captures a specific slice of RLUSD's presence on the ledger. It doesn't offer a trend line across multiple months, and it doesn't break down the 110 wallets by operator, size, or purpose. Those gaps are likely to be the next questions for anyone trying to judge whether the automated activity is a sign of healthy infrastructure or a distortion of the numbers.
What's left unanswered
For now, the practical takeaway is that raw transaction counts on the XRP Ledger deserve a second pass. The Bitquery study shows a method for doing that — split the bots from the bulk transfers — but it stops short of a full accounting. Whether the 110 bot wallets are a stable feature of RLUSD payments or a temporary artifact of the study window isn't addressed in the findings. Nor is the question of how much of the billions in larger transfers came from the issuer versus other large holders.
Those answers would require a follow-up study covering a longer period, or a breakdown that the current findings don't provide. Until then, the 110-wallet figure stands as the most specific public detail from the analysis, and the scrutiny it invites is likely to continue as XRP Ledger activity stays in focus.
