Federated chains

Chains with no block producer in the usual sense: validators propose sets of transactions and converge on one in rounds, and each validator counts only the validators it has chosen to trust — the Unique Node List on the XRP Ledger, quorum slices on Stellar. Anyone can run a validator, but it carries weight only once others list it, and nearly every node follows a default list published by a foundation or company behind the chain. Finality is fast; trust is placed in whoever is on the list.

How it works

Who makes a blockNo single producer. Validators propose sets of transactions and converge on one in rounds.
Who may take partAnyone can run a validator, but it counts only for the nodes that list it as trusted. In practice almost every node follows a default list published by a foundation or company behind the chain.
How the chain agreesOn the XRP Ledger a set is accepted once 80% of a validator's trusted list agrees; on Stellar, once overlapping quorum slices agree (Federated Byzantine Agreement).
When a block is finalIn seconds; there are no forks to wait out.
What an attack costsCollusion or loss of enough listed validators: on the XRP Ledger, more than a fifth of the list can stop the ledger from closing. The real check is who writes the default list.
Chains counted
10
Combined market cap
$76.7B
Snapshot
10 November 2026
#AssetConsensusMarket cap
1 XRPXRP XRP Ledger Consensus (RPCA, federated) $67.2B
2 StellarXLM Stellar Consensus Protocol (FBA) $5.1B
3 CantonCC Canton BFT (privacy L1) $3.6B
4 Pi NetworkPI SCP (Stellar-based) $797M
5 MobileCoinMOB MobileCoin Consensus Protocol (SCP-based) $15M
6 GUNZGUN Snowman++ (permissioned Avalanche L1) $7M
7 ObyteGBYTE Order-provider DAG (Byteball) $4M
8 XDB CHAINXDB Stellar Consensus Protocol (FBA) $882,196
9 Gno.landGNOT Proof of Contribution (Tendermint2) $0
10 XahauXAH XRP Ledger Consensus (UNL, federated) $0

Methodology — the rules under which each chain's family was decided. Wrapped, staked and pegged claims are listed separately and never counted toward this total.