September 2024 was a month of significant developments for the XRP and Ripple community. It was a period marked by numerous updates and milestones that captured the attention of investors, developers, and enthusiasts alike. Dan Fisher, the Community Relations Manager at Ripple, provided a comprehensive recap of the month’s events.
Ripple and XRPL Advancements
Ripple made substantial progress in exploring programmability for the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The firm announced plans to integrate the upcoming EVM sidechain and potential native smart contracts functionality, all in collaboration with the community. This initiative aims to enhance the XRPL ecosystem, making it more versatile and robust.
In a bid to improve user experience, Xrpscan, an explorer tool for XRPL, launched an advanced on-chain search feature in beta. This new tool allows for comprehensive transaction analysis and is currently open for feedback from developers, exchanges, and XRPL enthusiasts.
Additionally, RippleX revealed that the next XRPL Apex conference will be held in Singapore in June 2025. This event is expected to gather industry leaders and developers to discuss the future of the XRPL ecosystem.
AMM Performance and NFT Development
The XRPL Automated Market Maker (AMM) has experienced notable fluctuations over the past few months. According to XPMarket, trading volume peaked at over $10.6 million in June but cooled down to around $5.4 million by August. Despite this decline, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in AMM hit an all-time high (ATH) of $31.6 million, indicating growing investor confidence and asset value within these pools.
Advanced Infrastructure
DeXfi, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on XRPL, launched an NFT marketplace and introduced new features to its platforms, dexfi.pro and the Xaman xApp. In a similar vein, Bithomp, a long-standing XRPL explorer, rebranded and moved to its dedicated website, xrplexplorer.com.
Vet, an XRPL dUNL validator, introduced a tracker for the Ripple USD (RLUSD), enabling users to monitor the beta testing of the stablecoin across both the XRPL and Ethereum networks. Moreover, the XRPL wallet Xaman rolled out version 3.0, featuring new improvements and a monetization strategy aimed at ensuring the platform’s sustainability and growth.
Institutional and Enterprise Adoption
Grayscale made headlines by launching an XRP Trust, offering accredited investors the opportunity to gain exposure to XRP through private placements. This initiative marks the first of four phases in the introduction of an XRP ETF. Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, emphasized the transformative potential of XRP in cross-border payments.
In another significant development, Zoniqx, a company specializing in real-world asset tokenization on XRPL, won the 2024 FinTech Award for being the Most Innovative Tokenization & Liquidity Solutions Company. This accolade highlights the growing importance of XRPL in the fintech industry.
Innovations and Growth
Mayukha Vadari, a Senior Software Engineer at Ripple, introduced two new XRPL specifications: XLS-80d and XLS-81d. XLS-80d aims to simplify on-chain permissions, while XLS-81d focuses on enhancing security and regulation in decentralized exchanges (DEX).
XRPKuwait announced the establishment of two additional infrastructure hubs, bringing the total number of XRPK hubs to four. These hubs are crucial for maintaining the open-source and decentralized nature of the XRP Ledger.
Anodos Finance celebrated its one-year anniversary and outlined plans to offer portfolio management, swaps, and vaults on the XRPL. Furthermore, the XRPL Grants program introduced an AI funding track to support builders leveraging artificial intelligence on the platform.
