As a seasoned analyst with years of experience navigating the cryptocurrency landscape, I find myself intrigued by this latest development between Ripple and XRPL Labs. The sudden shift in Ripple’s stance on smart contracts for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is indeed surprising, especially given the previous assertions made by their CTO, David Schwartz.
On September 2, Ripple shared their intentions to add smart contracts natively to the main network of the XRP Ledger (XRPL). However, this news didn’t sit well with some developers within the XRPL community, particularly Wietse Wind, the Director of XRPL Labs, who responded by writing an open letter to Ripple
The Sudden Change To XRPL Smart Contracts Is “Surprising”
In a recent open letter posted on the X (previously Twitter) platform, Wind expressed surprise over Ripple’s unexpected shift in policy regarding the introduction of native smart contracts. Previously, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, had unequivocally stated at the XRP Ledger Apex that there was no support for smart contracts on the XRP Ledger three months ago
In the past, Schwartz pointed out that the XRPL mainnet was a “set function ledger” and suggested that smart contracts should be implemented on other networks like the EVM Sidechain or Xahua. Wind expressed concern that Ripple’s frequent changes in direction make it challenging to foster a sustainable ecosystem, as these “unpredictable shifts by the organization” often alter the course of the core protocol
The Director of XRPL Labs expressed his disappointment that Ripple’s leadership didn’t communicate directly about their significant change in stance and the reasons behind it. He suggested that finding out about this through indirect sources, instead of open dialogue, underscores the current level of collaboration within the developer community
It’s worth noting that Wind had suggested and advocated for native smart contracts on the XRPL mainnet quite some time ago. However, it appears Ripple didn’t take much notice of this idea then. Despite not hearing directly from Ripple, the developer expressed satisfaction with the shift in perspective but also pointed out that they find it regrettable and costly for those leading innovation within the ecosystem, as this realization seems to have come too late
According to Wind, we’ve reached a crucial point in the development of XRPL. He explained that Ripple must make a decisive decision: either adopt and nurture the current Hooks technology on the mainnet or opt for a different approach which could potentially drive away committed developers and split the ecosystem
Wind and his team started developing a layer-1 smart contract solution called Hooks, as Ripple appeared hesitant to incorporate a native smart contract onto the XRPL main network
Ripple’s CTO Responds To Open Letter
David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, addressed Wind’s public statement, providing Ripple’s perspective on the matter. In contrast to Wind’s assertions about no direct communication, Schwartz disclosed that the RippleX team contacted him prior to the publication of their announcement. Furthermore, Schwartz revealed that his company had backed and financed Hooks since its inception. However, he clarified that Ripple would only endorse Hooks as an amendment on the main network
Schwartz also mentioned that there is a lot of innovation in Hooks, as XRPL Labs proposed initially, but believes some updates could make it a better option for XRPL mainnet. In an earlier X post, the Ripple CTO explained why he didn’t support Hooks being the smart contract solution on the XRPL mainnet.
He remarked that he wasn’t convinced it was “small and safe enough to deploy on the mainnet without significant risk to things like transaction price stability and performance payments.”
Schwartz received a reply from the wind, expressing his joy over the shift in stance and anticipation for what was approaching on the mainnet, whether or not it involved Hooks – a tool his team had created. He further mentioned that his primary worry was the insufficient communication from Ripple, as stakeholders in the developer community should be informed when a crypto company like Ripple alters its direction, particularly in situations like this one
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2024-09-04 21:12