Quai vs XRP
QUAI is mined. XRP was created all at once: 100 billion coins on day one, with a large share held by the company and its founders. Quai is secured by open proof of work, not by lists of trusted validators, and it runs the EVM on its base layer.
Facts reviewed in November 2026.
Where Quai is stronger
Mined, not created at launch
All XRP existed on day one, and a large share went to the company and its founders. QUAI is issued to miners over time, and 1.9 billion QUAI of future genesis unlocks was burned, including 236 million that the founders and team gave up.
More protocol revenue
In the last 12 months, Quai earned $6.0M in protocol revenue. XRP earned $284K. Source: DefiLlama.
Open security
The XRP Ledger relies on validators that each server chooses to trust. Quai relies on proof of work: anyone can mine without permission, and the chain with the most work wins.
Smart contracts on the base layer
Quai runs the EVM on the chain that miners secure. On the XRP Ledger, general smart contracts run on a separate EVM sidechain.
Money to save and money to spend
QUAI is the store of value, with emission that slows as the network grows. Qi is cash whose supply follows mining difficulty and the cost of energy. One network does both jobs.
Other chains pay for the burn
Through SOAP, miners of Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ravencoin also mine Quai. The rewards from the blocks they find buy QUAI on the open market, and that QUAI is burned. No other network has this.
At a glance
| Property | Quai (QUAI) | XRP (XRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Consensus | Proof of work, with PoEM consensus | Agreement between trusted validators, with no mining and no staking |
| Secured by | Miners with SHA-256, Scrypt, or KawPoW hardware | Validators on each server's trusted list |
| Block time | About 5 seconds | 3 to 5 seconds |
| Smart contracts | Yes. The EVM runs on the base layer. | Limited on the main ledger. An EVM sidechain runs smart contracts. |
| Supply | Emission slows as the network grows, and SOAP buybacks burn QUAI. 1.9 billion genesis QUAI was burned. | 100 billion XRP created at launch. No new issuance, and fees are burned. |
| Launched | February 2025 | June 2012 |
| Revenue, 12 months | $6.0M | $284K |
Revenue is protocol revenue for the last 12 months from DefiLlama. Quai's revenue is the value of the other chains' block rewards that SOAP used to buy QUAI.
Questions people ask
Can you mine XRP?
No. All XRP was created at launch, and the ledger has no mining. QUAI is created by proof-of-work mining.
Which one earns more protocol revenue?
DefiLlama tracks revenue for both networks. The table on this page shows the current 12-month figure for each one.
Is Quai as fast as XRP?
Yes, they are close. The XRP Ledger closes a ledger every 3 to 5 seconds, and Quai produces a block about every 5 seconds.
More comparisons
Sources
This page gives information only. It is not financial advice. See the disclaimers.