Transactions flow through governance approval, cryptographic signing, and blockchain broadcast, with full status tracking at every stage.
- Every transaction passes through policy checks before signing (governance cannot be bypassed).
- Fee strategies let you balance cost vs. confirmation speed per transaction.
- Both hot vaults (online signing) and cold vaults (air-gapped) are supported.
- Status tracking covers internal processing through blockchain finality.
Understanding the transaction lifecycle is essential for operations and integration. Every transaction is gated by your policies—this is how you enforce spending limits, multi-party approval, and compliance controls. Fee strategies directly impact cost and user experience (under-priced transactions may be delayed; over-priced wastes money). Status tracking enables real-time monitoring and reconciliation.
For architects and operators: Monitor transaction status distribution to identify bottlenecks (many in "Pending" = approval backlog; many in "Preparing" = fee issues). Configure appropriate fee strategies per use case — high-priority for customer withdrawals, lower priority for internal treasury movements.
A blockchain transaction is a digitally signed instruction that requests a change on a distributed ledger. Unlike traditional financial systems where a central authority processes transfers, blockchain transactions are:
- Cryptographically signed: The sender proves ownership of their assets by signing the transaction with their private key (see Authentication for details on how signing works)
- Broadcast to a network: The transaction is sent to multiple nodes (computers) that validate it
- Recorded permanently: Once confirmed, the transaction becomes part of an immutable record
The following diagram shows a simplified view of how a blockchain transaction works:
- Sign & submit: The user creates and signs a transaction request.
- Apply governance: Ripple Custody validates the request against policies and obtains required approvals.
- Broadcast: The signed transaction is sent to the blockchain network.
- Confirm: Network nodes validate and add the transaction to a block, creating a permanent record.
In Ripple Custody, an accounting transaction is any operation that affects the balance or the system's state (such as a configuration change). This includes blockchain transactions as well as internal tracking of incoming funds.
The types of accounting transactions you can perform depend on the blockchain you're using:
| Transaction type | Description | Example use cases |
|---|---|---|
| Native currency transfer | Send the blockchain's base currency (e.g., ETH, BTC, XRP) to another address | Paying vendors, treasury management, customer withdrawals |
| Token transfer | Send tokens issued on a blockchain (e.g., ERC-20, SPL tokens) to another address | Stablecoin payments, loyalty token distribution |
| Smart contract call | Execute code stored on a blockchain to perform complex operations | DeFi interactions, NFT minting, custom business logic |
| Staking operation | Lock assets to participate in network consensus and earn rewards | Delegate tokens to validators, claim staking rewards |
Not all blockchains support all transaction types. For details on what each blockchain supports, see Supported ledgers.
For guides on performing these operations, see Send assets (UI) or Send assets (API).
When you initiate a transaction in Ripple Custody, it passes through several stages before reaching the blockchain:
| Phase | What happens | Key components |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Initiation | User submits a transaction request (transfer order or transaction order) | API Gateway, Web UI |
| 2. Governance | The system checks policies: Does this transaction require additional approvals? Does it exceed spending limits? | Governance Engine, Policies |
| 3. Signing | Once approved, the transaction is cryptographically signed | notary, vault, KMS |
| 4. Broadcast | The signed transaction is sent to the blockchain network | Indexer, Blockchain Nodes |
| 5. Confirmation | The blockchain includes the transaction in a block and the system updates balances | Indexer, Database |
Every transaction goes through governance approval before signing. The notary validates that the governance engine authorized the transaction before the vault signs it, ensuring no transaction can bypass policy controls.
For the complete technical flow with detailed sequence diagrams, API calls, and UI screenshots, see Send assets (UI) or Send assets (API).
This overview introduces the transaction lifecycle. For detailed information, see the following pages:
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
| Transaction initiation | Learn how to start transactions using transfer orders (simple) or transaction orders (advanced). Includes decision guide and transaction object diagrams. |
| Transaction processing | Understand what happens after initiation: status progression, vault signing flows (hot vs cold), fee strategies, and finality. |
| Transactions reference | Lookup tables for fee strategies by ledger, finality settings by network, status definitions, troubleshooting, and glossary. |
| Send assets: UI | API | Step-by-step how-to guide with UI and API workflows. |