The amount of XRP burned as transaction fees on the XRP Ledger has surged.

According to blockchain media outlet U.Today on Sept. 20 local time, XRPL data show 771.7 XRP was burned in fees, up 84.3 percent from the prior comparison period.

The figure carries more weight as a change in the structure of network activity than as a contraction in XRP supply itself. On the XRPL, all transaction fees are permanently burned rather than paid to validators. That means the circulating supply shrinks slightly whenever transactions occur. Still, 771.7 XRP remains very small compared with total supply, and the outlet said it should not be seen as a major supply shock.

Notably, the increase in the burn amount moved in the opposite direction from key activity metrics. Successful transactions fell 6.5 percent to 1.6 million, and total transactions declined 5.6 percent to 2.2 million. The number of payments also slipped 7 percent to about 759,200. That means more XRP was burned in fees even as overall transactions and payments fell.

The outlet explained the trend suggests fee spending per unit of activity has risen sharply, rather than reflecting a simple increase in overall network transactions. It said the market focus is on this divergence rather than on the burn amount itself.

Price action has also entered a technically important area. XRP is trading around $1.38 and sits just below a descending resistance line formed since the August peak. With the psychological resistance level of $1.40 overlapping the trendline, the market is seen as having formed a near-term pivot point.

If the $1.40 to $1.42 range is broken, the recent pattern of lower lows and lower highs could be disrupted. In that case, $1.45, followed by the $1.50 to $1.52 range, could open up again. On the downside, support is clustered around $1.34 to $1.35, with $1.28 to $1.30 presented as the next defensive line below that.

The surge in the burn amount alone is not read as a signal that rising scarcity can by itself lift the XRP price. Still, a sharp jump in fee burns while overall transactions and payments weakened is seen as meaning a "significant change" has emerged in the XRPL's recent on-chain profile. The fact that the shift coincides with XRP testing its descending resistance line has become a near-term point to watch.