Ripple XRP Ledger to Introduce New Layer-1 Capabilities for NFTs, AMMs, and DEXs

With the start of the Korean Blockchain Week, blockchain startup Ripple has announced some key developments with respect to improving the crypto infrastructure and thereby pushing the institutional adoption of its blockchain. The announcement shows that smart contracts would soon be coming to the XRP Ledger mainnet thereby unlocking new capabilities on Layer 1 for NFTs, AMMs, and decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

Ripple to Brings Smart Contracts to XRP Ledger

The blockchain firm seeks to bring key improvements to network programmability with the introduction of native smart contracts to the XRP Ledger Mainnet. Furthermore, it is also planning to introduce the XRPL EVM Sidechain in the coming months.

These two developments will complement each other to build a versatile and robust ecosystem thereby supporting a wide range of applications. Furthermore, XRPL is also going to be home to Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin.

The introduction of smart contracts will introduce new Layer-1 features such as NFTs, Escrows, DEXs, AMMs, as well as authorized trustlines payment channels. Also, with its high speed and low cost, the XRP Ledger could be home to everything from traditional finance to innovative applications. Amid the strong growth of the XRP Ledger, Ripple is expanding bank partnerships recently.

Current smart contract standards, like XRPL Labs’ Hooks, provide a crucial foundation to further improve Mainnet capabilities. The Ripple blog post notes:

“The upcoming smart contract functionality will offer additional flexibility for these developers by enabling permissionless development in a way that complements the functionality of amendments”.

Key Partnerships In AI and Metaverse

On Monday, September 2, Ripple announced its partnership with AI and Metaverse technology firm Futureverse in order to integrate Ripple Custody to securely store its digital assets. Using its proprietary Ottó blockchain, Futureverse will offer secure and compliant Know Your Customer (KYC) verification in order to access decentralized finance (DeFi).

Futureverse will utilize Ripple Custody in order to ensure the safe receipt and storage of cryptocurrencies before minting on the Ottó blockchain. The crypto custody market is likely to grow to $10 trillion in size and the blockchain startup is eyeing to get a key share of it. Jeffrey McDonald, Founder of Ottó Blockchain said:

“The integration of Ripple Custody is driven by industry-leading security features and capabilities that bolster the security of our customers’ digital assets. Our long-standing relationship with Ripple, along with their industry-leading product features, made Ripple Custody the ideal solution as we continue to build in the AI and metaverse technology space.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also appreciated the development adding that the blockchain will continue to find more robust use cases in the future.

With new programmability in the works for the XRP Ledger (something the XRP community has rightly been asking for) and the growing opportunity for Ripple’s enterprise products to serve crypto-native customers (such as @futureverse using Ripple Custody) – the foundations of crypto… https://t.co/ZLQXl0BcOD

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) September 3, 2024

Amid the broader crypto market recovery, the native cryptocurrency XRP is trading 3% up trading at $0.56 as of press time.