XRP Address

Overview

An XRP Ledger classic address represents a 20-byte account identifier in the ledger’s base58 alphabet and typically begins with r. It is case-sensitive and includes a checksum for detecting input errors.

An X-address combines a classic address with a source or destination tag for application convenience, although the ledger protocol natively records the classic address and tag separately. Shared exchange or merchant accounts often require a destination tag to identify the intended customer. Wallets must validate the encoding, network, account status, and any required tag before sending. A syntactically valid address may be unfunded and not yet exist as an active account. Omitting or changing a required destination tag can send funds to the right ledger account but prevent the receiving service from crediting the correct user.

Authorization depends on keys, scripts, contracts, or protocol rules, while custodial systems may expose an identifier without giving the user direct control of the underlying account. XRP Address is an identifier or spendable object, not proof of legal ownership and not a secret credential. Systems storing XRP Address should preserve the exact value together with chain identifiers and type metadata. Normalization, case conversion, truncation, and alias resolution need protocol-aware rules, because a visually similar value can represent a different destination or fail checksum validation.

Higher-value transfers benefit from an independent destination check rather than reliance on shortened display text. Testing for XRP Address should include valid and invalid examples, wrong-network values, boundary encodings, contract destinations, and any memo or tag requirements. Settlement consideration: XRP addresses identify ledger accounts, while destination tags, funding status, network, and checksummed format determine correct payment routing.