Bank for International Settlements tests XRP Ledger for data verification

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has conducted a proof-of-concept pilot using the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to verify the integrity of official economic statistics. In a working paper titled “Verifiable Official Statistics: A Blockchain-Based Approach,” researchers detailed a system designed to prevent the unauthorized alteration of datasets as they are redistributed across digital platforms and AI systems.

The pilot utilizes a cryptographic hashing pipeline to create a digital fingerprint of datasets in the SDMX format. Instead of storing the actual data on the blockchain, the system anchors these fingerprints to the XRPL, providing a tamper-evident commitment. This allows users to independently verify that published data remains unchanged from its original source without compromising confidentiality.

The BIS cited the XRPL’s low transaction fees and fast consensus finality as primary reasons for its selection. Testing showed high efficiency, with publication latency between three and five seconds and verification times of one to two seconds. The implementation has been released as open-source code via BIS Open Tech.