Methodology: how the health checks work

Last updated October 30, 2026

Short version: ReserveWatch reads public data from the XRP Ledger and runs a fixed list of automated checks on each gold, silver and platinum token. It is not an audit, not proof of reserves, and not investment advice.

What OK, WARN and CRITICAL mean

Each token gets several checks. Every check is marked OK, WARN or CRITICAL. The token's overall label is simply the worst result among its checks. One CRITICAL check makes the whole token CRITICAL, even if everything else looks fine.

OK — none of our automated checks found a problem. It does not mean the token is safe, fully backed, or a good buy. It only means the public ledger data we look at did not trip a rule.
WARN — something worth knowing. It may be normal for that kind of token, but you should understand it before relying on the token.
CRITICAL — something that can seriously limit what holders can do, or that we could not confirm at all.

What makes a token CRITICAL

Unverified listing. The issuer account does not appear on the published token list of the project it points to, so we could not confirm who issued it.
Discontinued. The issuer has publicly said the token is discontinued (no longer redeemable).
Issuer account not found on the ledger.
Global Freeze is on, which means the token cannot move between holders.
More than half of the circulating supply sits in individually frozen trust lines.
Price far from spot: the on-ledger price is 10% or more away from the spot metal price, measured from an AMM pool deep enough to trust (see below).

What makes a token WARN

Clawback is enabled — the issuer can take tokens back from holders. This is WARN, not CRITICAL, because some regulated issuers use it on purpose.
Some trust lines are individually frozen (but 50% of supply or less).
The issuer's website (the on-ledger Domain) does not confirm the issuer in its xrp-ledger.toml file.
A transfer fee above 1%.
No circulating supply outside the issuer and its known treasury wallets.
No AMM pool against XRP or RLUSD, or pools holding less than about $10,000 in total.
The price is 3% or more (but under 10%) from spot, or the price cannot be measured at all.
The spot metal price could not be loaded.
One holder (not counting the issuer, treasury, or AMM pools) owns 50% or more of the supply.

Checks shown as OK for context

Some facts are listed as OK because they are normal and useful to know: the issuer can still freeze lines (common for regulated issuers), holders must be authorized (RequireAuth), the master key is disabled, a small transfer fee, a verified domain, and a price within 3% of spot.

XRPL basics: trust lines, freeze and clawback

Trust line. On the XRP Ledger, you must open a "trust line" to an issuer before you can hold its token. The issuer's total outstanding tokens are the sum of all those lines. We subtract balances held by the issuer's known treasury wallets to get circulating supply.
Freeze. An issuer can freeze one holder's trust line, or turn on a Global Freeze that stops the token from moving for everyone. Issuers can give up this power forever by setting NoFreeze. "Deep freeze" is a stricter version for single lines.
Clawback. If the issuer turned on allowTrustLineClawback, it can pull tokens back out of a holder's account. This can be used for legal or compliance reasons, but it means holders do not have final control of their balance.
RequireAuth. The issuer must approve each trust line before it can hold tokens.

These are settings on the issuer's account. We read them directly from the ledger; we do not judge why an issuer chose them.

How peg vs spot is measured

Spot price. We load the spot price per troy ounce of gold, silver or platinum from a public price API, then convert it to a price per token using how many grams each token claims to represent.
On-ledger price. We look at the token's AMM pools against XRP and RLUSD and use the pool with the most money in it. If there is no AMM pool, we look at the DEX order book and use the middle of the best bid and best ask, but only if the gap between them is 20% or less.
Deviation. We compare the two: how many percent above or below spot the on-ledger price is.

When the peg cannot be measured

A small pool can show a price far from spot simply because nobody has traded it back into line. That is not the same as a broken peg. So we only grade the deviation when the price comes from an AMM pool holding at least about $10,000. A DEX order book mid-price is never treated as reliable, because we do not measure its depth.

In those cases the token page shows the raw number as "not meaningful," and the check reads "Peg not measurable" (WARN). The same happens when there is no pool and no usable two-sided order book, or when the spot price is unavailable.

Even a reliable reading only says what the token trades for on the ledger. It says nothing about whether metal exists in a vault.

What "Unverified listing" means — and does not mean

It means: we could not link this issuer account to the project it refers to. For example, its on-ledger Domain points to a project, but that project's published token list does not include this issuer. So its identity and backing are unconfirmed.

It does not mean the token is a scam, that anyone did something wrong, or that it has no backing. It is shown for transparency only. If you run the issuer, contact us with proof and we will review the listing.

A separate "not verified" domain result (WARN) means only that the issuer's website does not list the issuer in its xrp-ledger.toml file.

Where the data comes from and how often

All ledger data comes from public XRPL mainnet servers (account info, gateway balances, trust lines, AMM info and order books). We refresh about every 5 minutes. When a token's label changes, the change and its reasons are saved in the alert log. The raw readings are free as JSON at /api/tokens. Data can be late, missing or wrong if a server or the price API has problems.

What this is not

Not an audit. We do not visit, inspect or verify any vault, custodian, or bank account.
Not proof of reserves. On-ledger supply shows how many tokens exist, not how much metal backs them.
Not investment advice. Labels are not ratings, recommendations, or opinions on solvency. Do your own research and confirm with the issuer and an independent explorer. See the full disclaimer.