[XRP Ledger Developers Test Zero-Balance Account Creation Scheme, Proposing Sponsored Accounts to Cover 1 XRP Reserve Requirement] Odaily reports that XRP Ledger developers are testing a new feature that would allow the creation of blockchain accounts with an initial balance of zero. Existing accounts would then cover the reserve requirements for new accounts, lowering the financial barrier for payment applications and automated software to create wallets on a large scale. This proposal was submitted on October 15th as a SponsoredAccountCreate transaction proposal. Under current XRP Ledger rules, each account must retain at least 1 XRP as a reserve. Creating 100,000 unique accounts would require locking 100,000 XRP. The new scheme proposes that sponsoring accounts cover this reserve requirement. A broader fee sponsorship mechanism could also allow applications to pay transaction fees for users in the future, but the overall network reserve requirement would not be eliminated. This feature is expected to lower the barrier to entry for embedded wallets, RLUSD stablecoin payments, and AI-assisted automated payments. However, the relevant code is still under review, and the sponsorship mechanism it relies on has not yet been launched on the mainnet. As of October 19, the mechanism had only received 11 votes out of the 35 required validators, falling short of the 29 votes needed for approval. (CoinDesk)