Start with the kind of recipient you are funding
- A new personally controlled address
Check the wallet’s account status and its current first-funding instruction. XRP Ledger documentation explains that funding a new address must meet the reserve requirement. The existence of an address or recovery backup alone does not establish an already funded on-ledger account. Do not infer account readiness from a receive screen without reading its status.
- An existing personal account
Inspect the current XRP balance and any reserve-related information shown by the wallet. A received amount and the amount available to send later need not be identical. Keep the ledger balance, the expected exchange output and the wallet’s available balance as separate observations when planning the purchase.
- A hosted exchange deposit
Use the platform’s own current deposit page, including its network, minimum and any required destination tag. Do not treat a shared exchange address as a new personal account that you must activate. A platform’s customer-crediting requirements are a separate question from the ledger reserve for an account you personally control.
Do not count the reserve as a fee retained by the exchange
The reserve is an XRP Ledger account requirement. Its documentation separates a base reserve from an owner reserve associated with ledger objects, and explains that the settings can change. For a first funding decision, consult the current documentation and the receiving wallet rather than an old screenshot naming a previous reserve. This page intentionally does not turn today’s setting into a permanent exchange minimum. The exchange and a hosted recipient may impose their own current limits as well.
After receipt, record what reached the address before interpreting the wallet’s spendable display. If part of a personal account balance is unavailable for an ordinary outgoing payment because of reserve requirements, that is not by itself proof of an exchange deduction. Reconcile the payout amount and account balance first. Avoid subtracting a remembered reserve twice, once from the order estimate and again from the wallet figure, then reporting the resulting mismatch as a missing payment.
Keep four checks in separate columns
| Check | Where to look | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Expected XRP output | The current exchange calculation | What the order currently estimates for payout |
| First funding requirement | Wallet and current XRP Ledger reserve documentation | Whether a new personal account can be funded by the planned payment |
| Customer deposit instruction | The hosted recipient’s deposit screen | Which address, tag and supported network that platform requires |
| Post-payment availability | Receiving wallet after checking the payout record | How the received balance relates to later outgoing use |
First funding and receiving questions
- Is the personal XRP account reserve the exchange’s commission?
- No. It is a ledger account requirement, distinct from the exchange calculation and any sending-platform charge. Review the actual payout record before drawing conclusions from a spendable-balance display.
- Should I add a made-up destination tag when sending to my new wallet?
- No. Follow the recipient’s current instructions. Hosted platforms commonly use destination tags to identify customers, but a tag should come from the intended recipient rather than being invented to fill a field.
XRP Ledger account documentation
Reviewed: