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Ripple (XRP) Check Feature May Soon See the Light of Day

Value addition remains the hallmark of technological innovation especially as it relates to blockchain technology. Projects without a new offering are bound to lose their market share to competitors. In line with this, Ripple (XRP) is being positively featured in the news as Brad Garlinghouse held a closed-door meeting with officials of the Brazilian Central Bank to discuss institutional adoption of the technology. The real-time gross settlements system and remittance network is also on the right path to get the nod for its Check feature which was introduced in February 2018.

The Check Issuance Delay May Be Over Soon

All XRP’s new innovations are registered on the Ripple Ledger (XRPL). The Ledger undergoes frequent changes with either the upgrade of existing features or the addition of new ones. Fundamentally, when there is a new amendment to the ledger, it is put up for voting by existing validators on the network. For this amendment to be implemented, it must attain 80% votes for two consecutive weeks.

The XRP check feature has been stalling at this voting stage since it was introduced as it has failed to win the required majority votes. This delay is about to end as UNL validators removed a veto, bringing it only one vote away from the majority. Should this be achieved, the Ripple Check feature may be in use in the months to come.

What This Means for us All

The Ripple Check will facilitate an asynchronous exchange of funds using a process that is familiar to the banking industry. Once implemented, Ripple will encourage the community to find a new and creative use for Checks to give better flexibility and value. As it stands, Ripple Checks have superiority over paper checks as it helps institutions comply with financial regulations. This is possible with the deposit regulator available on users Ripple Ledger Accounts which will prevent inflows of unauthorized transactions. In all, the system will empower crypto investors as it will offer financial transaction independence.

Image via Shutterstock

Ripple CTO Assesses XRP as a Bridge Cryptocurrency Between CBDCs, Stablecoins, and Fiat

Ripple’s chief technology officer (CTO) David Schwartz discussed the key role Ripple (XRP) tokens and other cryptocurrencies would play in a market where central bank digital currencies were gaining traction as a hot topic.

How crypto comes into play as CBDCs emerge

The XRP chief technology officer also disclosed that he thought that “a global stablecoin” may potentially be launched in the future, as numerous countries have discussed the issuance of a central bank digital currency in an emerging digital age.

The discussion began when an XRP investor brought up the regulatory framework on digital assets that G20 officials – comprised of 19 countries as well as the European Union – have been actively working to establish by the November 2020 summit. The group has been in talks to establish rules for digital payments in their respective countries. The plan to begin the groundwork is said to begin sometime this month.

As the XRP member said there was potentially a possibility of a global stablecoin being established, Ripple CTO Schwartz gave his two cents. He said:

“I don’t think there’s going to be one world fiat any time soon, so even with stablecoins there will be a lot of them. To make liquidity between CBDCs, other stablecoins, and new tokenized asset classes (securities, DeFi) there’s room for a neutral, jurisdictionless asset.”

Per his statement, this is where XRP comes into play, to ensure liquidity between different types of currencies, be it fiat, CBDCs, stablecoins, or other types of securities.

However, Shwartz rectified that XRP will definitely have to compete with other currencies to establish its dominance within the market. He said:

“I think lots of digital and fiat assets will compete to play that role and there is room for more than one. I see the dollar’s role as the world’s settlement currency slowly shrinking and international commerce increasing. So we’ll (Ripple) be fighting for a share of a bigger market.”

Why Ripple’s XRP Ledger is so great

The Ripple CTO further assessed XRP’s benefits in a speech at Berkeley University, explaining that XRP and its underlying permissionless and decentralized blockchain infrastructure, XRP Ledger, were both designed for the bridging currency to be transacted with neutral jurisdiction. Transactions of a native asset, a neutral asset, and between various payment networks can be performed on the XRP Ledger. He said:

“XRPL has asset issuance built into the protocol – issuance, authorization, payments, settlement, and exchange are all native operations with simple APIs. Issued assets can represent fiat currency, securities, or anything else of fungible value that works like a currency.”

US dollar’s steady drop in value

The news comes as the world’s de facto currency, the US dollar, has been dropping in value, with the US actively working on providing a second round of stimulus packages for COVID-19 economic relief. In addition, the US Federal Reserve has been working on pushing inflation higher than the targeted 2%, leading to a further debasement of the USD. The continued depreciation of the US dollar could result in even more investors flocking to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and XRP as hedges, to secure their monetary funds.

NFT Platform Mintable Raises $13 million in Series A Financing and will Integrate with XRP Ledger

NFT platform Mintable has received $13 million in Series A financing and will be integrated with Ripple’s XRP Ledger blockchain.

Singapore-based Mintable announced on July 1 that it will use the funds to expand its operations, promote its growth and user acquisition, and develop and launch new products. Investors include Ripple, NFT investment fund Metapurse, Animoca Brands, and Shutterstock executive chairman Jon Oringer.

Mintable is the first company in the industry to implement a unique gas-free coinage feature that allows users to create their NFT, enabling content creators to fully benefit from what the NFT provides without being burdened by high transaction fees.

Ripple stated that the NFT market is a market with long-term potential. Only in 2020, consumers spent $54 billion on non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Mintable will be integrated with XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized exchange (DEX) with inherent performance advantages and built-in, so that creators can sell their works safely, sustainably, and efficiently.

XRPL only consumes about 790,000 kWh per year and is already carbon neutral, which is much more efficient than the workload proof network that consumes about 66 TWh of energy per year, stating that:

“Its environmentally friendly attributes will allow billions of NFTs to be minted, bought, and transferred on the XRPL in a sustainable way.”

General Manager of RippleX Monica Long said:

“NFTs are giving rise to powerful new business models for creators. Accelerating the growth of this creator economy starts with an infrastructure that removes the barriers to entry — such as high gas fees and environmental costs of creating NFTs — faced by many today. Our investment in Mintable is a testament to our shared vision for cost-efficient and sustainable NFTs to enable profitability for creators and mainstream accessibility to crypto.”

Mintable is a non-fungible token (NFT) trading market based on the Ethereum blockchain, launched in 2018. Currently, the platform covers approximately 700,000 items such as digital art, music, collectables, game items, and domain names.

Ripple Floats $250M Fund to Power NFT Creativity on the XRP Ledger

Blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc has launched a $250 million fund designated to help power the growth and development of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

As announced by Ripple, the fund, dubbed the Ripple Creator Fund, will help all creators, brands, and marketplaces explore new use cases for NFTs on the XRPL, leveraging its inherent advantages of speed and cost and sustainability.

According to Ripple, the most popular use cases of NFTs, including the digital arts and collectables, are just the tip of the iceberg in the huge potential of the technology behind the technology. Citing the improved user-experience design of the XRP Ledger, Ripple says it is confident it has the right infrastructure to help all creators harness the enormous potentials of NFTs.

“The Creator Fund can help accelerate this adoption by attracting a broader community of creators to participate in and benefit from NFTs. Digital art and collectables are only the tips of the NFT iceberg—with the support of the Creator Fund and the power of the XRP Ledger as a premier platform for minting and managing NFTs, creators and developers can continue to explore utility in NFTs through use cases such as asset ownership and interactive experiences that will help bring about this tokenized future,” Ripple said in the announcement.

NFTs are gradually becoming mainstream, with multinational brands making their way into rolling out collectables resident in the NFT metaverse. Amongst the famous brands with NFT collections include Marvel Studios, Time Magazine, and Dolce & Gabbana. The broad acceptance of Non-Fungible Tokens has also led to the emergence of such marketplaces as OpenSea and Rarible.

Drawing on the energy-saving capabilities of the XRP Ledger, Ripple said the Creator Fund is targeted at supporting all of these major stakeholders, a move that will further be actualized by the unique partnerships it is currently securing.

XRP Coin to Feature in DeFi With Proposed Wrapped XRP Coming to Ethereum

From December 2021, blockchain cross-chain assets provider Wrapped.com will be launching wrapped XRP (wXRP), a 1:1 XRP asset pegged token that will be usable across a plethora of decentralized finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platforms, and smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

Interoperability remains the key feature that enhances the usability of most blockchain protocols. It is more like the operational working of banks with interbank trades. With blockchain protocols built to be unique, the concept of Bridges which helps connect two dissimilar protocols, is growing at a fast rate and will remain the backbone of the conversion of XRP on the XRP ledger to wXRP on the Ethereum blockchain.

The wXRP token will be brought to life with a partnership from Hex Trust, a licensed digital asset custodian serving the Asian market.

“The collaboration with Wrapped.com will benefit the wider XRP ecosystem as we provide the infrastructure to mobilize Wrapped XRP on the Ethereum blockchain. Wrapped tokens improve interoperability across DeFi protocols, create connections between otherwise isolated liquidity, and enable users to transact with a broader range of decentralized applications,” said Calvin Shen, Head of Sales & Business Development at Hex Trust.

XRP is at the centre of the legal dispute between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc. The SEC maintained the XRP coin is security, a claim that Ripple is contesting in court. While the legal brawl spelt a wrong turn for the coin earlier in the year, a new fundamental is now being introduced through the wXRP to help the digital currency end the year on a stellar note.

While the XRP Ledger is a fast-growing blockchain protocol for smart contracts, its reach cannot be compared with Ethereum, the leading network for DeFi and NFTs. With the capabilities to utilize XRP on the largest decentralized blockchain network, XRP holders will have more use cases for their tokens. This trend can open a new gateway for other unique opportunities for the embattled token.

Ripple Reports Massive Sales Growth in Q3 Riding on Crypto Price Surge

Blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc has announced its sales record for the fiscal third quarter in a bid to provide transparency to its broad community around the world voluntarily.

According to the firm, the total XRP sales by Ripple, net of purchases, came in at $491.74 million as against $157.92 million it recorded in the previous quarter.

While the firm said it did not conduct any programmatic sales in the third quarter, it noted a massive decline in global XRP sales volume which came in at $189.53 billion, as against the $408.80 billion reported in the second quarter. The declined sales volume can largely be attributed to the incessant regulatory clampdown on digital currencies, affecting other prominent coins, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Ecosystem Updates

Ripple also unveiled key updates across its broad ecosystem. The XRP Ledger protocol has decentralized finance and smart contract capabilities that are fueling the rise of decentralized exchanges and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). While Ethereum continues to lead the DeFi and NFT revolution through the legacy protocols built on it, Ripple says the XRP Ledger and other networks, including Solana, Terra, and Avalanche, are also growing their influence.

Ripple also provided an update on its ongoing legal brawl with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which it says has now advanced into the expert discovery phase.

“Last quarter, Ripple hit a milestone with the conclusion of the fact discovery phase on August 31 – the formal process of exchanging information, including exchanging documents and taking testimony relevant to the case. The case is currently in the expert discovery phase, where each side exchanges expert reports opining on various aspects of the case,” the report reads.

The current phase is billed to end by January 2022, and Ripple says it will continue to fight for a speedy resolution of the conflict. Other high points of the report include the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) partnership with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, its Federated Sidechains solutions designed for developers, and the customary release of a total of 3 billion XRP tokens from escrow for the three months of the quarter.

Australia's Novatti Group to Launch Stablecoin on the XRP Ledger

More legacy software and fintech firms are gradually entering the digital currency and payments world with the latest being publicly listed Novatti Group.

The company announced it will be integrating its new stablecoin, AUDC with the XRP Ledger following a partnership with blockchain payments firm, Ripple Labs Inc.

The new stablecoin will be backed on a ratio of 1:1 with the Australian Dollar and can be used for payment with merchants across Australia. The embrace of the new payment model will broaden Novatti Group’s offerings to its client and customers.

“Novatti is in the business of finding innovative ways for our clients to pay and be paid. Following on from the success of utilising the digital asset XRP for cross-border payments from Australia to the Philippines last year, we once again looked to the XRP Ledger to issue Novatti’s new stablecoin, AUDC. This really highlights the value of our global payments ecosystem, which can be readily replicated and expanded to capture new and innovative opportunities to best serve our clients,” said Novatti Managing Director Peter Cook.

Besides the XRP Ledger, the AUDC will also be deployed on Stellar Network, re-establishing its goal of driving innovative cross-border solutions across the board. The company also considers its AUDC push as an avenue to generate extra revenue, highlighting how crucial the blockchain payment ecosystem can be in generating extra income sources.

“We strongly believe that demand for the use of digital currencies will only increase going forward. Deploying our AUDC stablecoin on the XRP Ledger will help Novatti capture this growing demand and, in turn, position us to deliver new revenue streams.”

The clamor on the frailty of stablecoins drawing on the collapse of UST is not deterring the embrace of the crypto tokens which may largely aid cross-border transactions. With Novatti Group’s AUDC, the company is billed to extend its footprint as a stablecoin pioneer in Australia.

Ripple Labs Inc Floats CBDC Innovate Challenge

Digital currency payments company Ripple Labs Inc has announced a new hackathon dubbed the CBDC Innovate Challenge for developers who can build XRP Ledger-powered payment solutions bordering on Central Bank Digital Currency technology.

With a star prize of about $150,000 at stake, the company, known for its cross-border payment solutions, said submissions will have to focus on use cases and interoperability around CBDCs.

It is not something new that CBDCs are becoming mainstream, with about 9 in 10 Central Banks around the world currently exploring these new forms of money, according to a BIS study. In the next couple of years, there will be so many CBDCs around that getting them to interoperate with one another will be a major requirement for international trade and transactions.

The Ripple CBDC Innovate Challenge is poised to put an insight into creative solutions that could help these new forms of money operate better. As announced by the company, developers who wish to participate will have to focus on interoperability solutions, retail-facing, and financial inclusion innovations.

As far as interoperability is concerned, the participants will need to focus on systems by which CBDCs can bridge with one another, as well as a suitable wallet that can hold multiple CBDCs. The solutions that will be designed should have a proper focus on retail users and at the same time, brandish creative solutions that can aid proper financial inclusions such as P2P lending amongst others.

As a major player in the blockchain payments world, Ripple Labs is being contacted by several governments, including Palau and Bhutan, to help in developing sustainable CBDC solutions. Whether or not it plans to integrate the winning solutions from this challenge, Ripple is on track to benefit from the broad-based insights that will be shared through the submissions.

Submission is billed for September 8 through October 31. Pitch demo judging is scheduled for November 1 to November 4, while the announcement of winners will be conducted from November 16 to 18th respectively.

Ripple XRP Q2 2023: Market Cap Decline while NFT Transactions Rise, Reported Messari

According to a recent analysis by Messari, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) saw growth and fall in the second quarter of 2023. Despite a 10.7% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline in market cap from $27.8 billion to $24.8 billion, the XRPL, a ten-year-old platform renowned for its quick, energy-efficient, cross-currency, and cross-border payments, saw its native token, XRP, maintain its position as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

The XRPL’s market performance was a tale of two halves. The year-to-date (YTD) increase of 42.5% in XRP’s circulating market cap was primarily driven by a surge in Q1. However, Q2 saw a decline in market cap, reflecting a broader downturn in network activity metrics. Average daily transactions and active addresses fell by 11.9% and 17.6% QoQ, respectively, returning to levels last seen in Q3 2022.

Despite the overall decline in network activity, the XRPL saw a 12.7% QoQ increase in average daily Non-Fungible Token (NFT) transactions, from 13,800 to 15,500. This growth was led by NFTokenCreateOffer, which now accounts for over half of all NFT transactions on the XRPL.

The XRPL continues to innovate and expand, with new sidechains like Coreum and Root Network offering developers more programmability for exploring security tokenization and metaverse applications. The EVM sidechain and XLS-38d bridge also saw further iterations, with developers now testing transfers between Issued Currencies and ERC-20s, among other features.

Despite these advancements, the XRPL’s ecosystem still lacks native support for smart contracts, a feature present in programmable settlement networks like Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana. However, the XRPL’s design choice to not enable arbitrary smart contracts on the base layer is a deliberate move to ensure maximum security and stability.

Multiple sidechains for the XRPL are either in development or have recently launched, in line with the platform’s vision of minimized Layer 1 complexity. These sidechains are set to provide increased programmability for both general and specific use cases, further expanding the XRPL’s capabilities.

In conclusion, the XRPL saw growth and drop in Q2 2023. Despite declines in network activity and market valuation, the platform witnessed an increase in NFT transactions and continuing development of sidechains.

Ripple CTO Advocates for Community Consensus on XRP Ledger's AMM Feature Integration

David “JoelKatz” Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer at Ripple, has been actively engaging with the community regarding the integration of an Automated Market Maker (AMM) feature on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Through a series of posts on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Schwartz highlighted the importance of community consensus before moving forward with this significant feature addition.

On 6th October 2023, Schwartz voiced his plan to review performance testing results and conduct code checks based on recent comments and concerns raised by the community. Through his post, he displayed a methodical approach, ensuring that all uncertainties are addressed before urging the validators to consider supporting the amendment. When probed by a community member about the communication channel with validators, Schwartz humorously mentioned that most of his arguments take place on Twitter.

The discussion primarily revolves around the integration of AMMs, which Schwartz describes as an intriguing part of decentralized finance (DeFi). The XRP Ledger, known for its speed, scalability, and suitability for various financial applications including cross-border payments, stands to benefit from this integration. AMMs are not merely about introducing a new trading engine; they also promise enhanced interaction with XRPL’s decentralized exchange.

The new feature, introduced in the rippled version 1.12.0, also carries the potential clawback feature. The clawback feature, as explained by Schwartz in previous discussions, aims to protect developers from potential legal liabilities within the XRPL ecosystem.

Schwartz emphasizes the need for a majority consensus within the community before implementing the AMM feature. Responding to a question about the timeline for AMMs going live post-governance voting, he mentioned that with majority support, the changes could be seen in as little as two weeks. However, no validators have endorsed the vote to the best of his knowledge, underscoring the importance of community agreement before proceeding with such amendments.

He advised against validators voting independently to promote these modifications, stressing that the community should reach consensus first. Only then should validators overwhelmingly vote YES, when a substantial number of nodes endorse the adjustment, reflecting a broad agreement within the XRPL community.

David Schwartz continues to play a crucial role in fostering a dialogue between the Ripple team, XRPL validators, and the broader community. His meticulous approach towards integrating new features like AMM, while ensuring community consensus, reflects a balanced stance towards evolving the XRPL while maintaining its decentralized ethos.