In a recent blog post, Ripple states its commitment to,
Bringing new programmability, including smart contracts, to the XRPL dev ecosystem in 2025 – through the XRPL EVM sidechain (already in the works) as well as exploring native capabilities on XRPL Mainnet.
With this, the crypto industry can expect numerous advancements and changes to the XRP Ledger following its programmability next year.
So, by next year, we expect to see the integration of smart contracts and the addition of more developer tools to manage them on the XRP Ledger.
2025 Marked a “Significant Year for Programmability” for the Ripple XRP Ledger
The first step towards the programmability of the Ripple XRP Ledger that we expect to see by next year is the addition of smart contracts to the ledger.
This will help make the Ripple XRP Ledger more usable by the crypto industry for basic practices and the movement of digital assets.
At this point, Ripple is working on integrating smart contracts into the XRP Ledger Mainnet, and details of the project’s progress are not available.
Following this, the partnership between Ripple and Peersyst Technology will introduce the XRPL EVM Sidechain, which will also be on the XRP Ledger.
Ripple calls this the “dual advancement in XRP Ledger’s programmability” since both steps will work together.
To create a robust, versatile ecosystem capable of supporting a wide range of applications.
Developers will be able to access these smart contracts to create “permissionless development that complements the functionality of amendments.”
Ripple aims to make the programmability of the XRP Ledger permissionless, easy to customize, easy to learn, and lastly easy to operate for infrastructure providers.
Once the XRPL EVM Sidechain goes live, developers will get to have a taste of what the coming changes to the XRP Ledger will bring.
The native smart contracts on the coming XRP Ledger, once programmable, will include Escrows, NFTs, authorized trust lines, payment channels (across over 55 other blockchains), and the decentralized exchange (DEX) and Automated Market Maker (AMM).
Further Details on the Coming Improvements to the Ripple XRP Ledger in 2025
Ripple has been working on the XRP Ledger’s programmability over the past few years.
To help boost this goal, Ripple has partnered with over 57 firms working hard to build the XRP Ledger in anticipation of the introduction of smart contracts.
Now, a 58th partner joins the ranks, Korea’s Yonsei University is now a part of the Ripple University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) and will benefit from the $60 million investment into the program to help drive academic excellence and best-in-class research through strategic support, technical resources, and grants.
Futureverse is also part of the long line of partnerships with Ripple to securely custody assets that will be present on the XRP Ledger.
