By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Developers will now be able to test the implementation of Ethereum smart contracts on the XRPL blockchain with a very lower entry barrier.
Pushing the bar further, Ripple is now testing a way for developers to deploy smart contracts on its XRP Ledger (XRPL) blockchain with little effort. As per reports, these smart contracts will be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The Ethereum Virtual Machine is software that runs smart contracts on Ethereum. Ripple said that its EVM-compatible sidechain, which runs in parallel with the XRPL blockchain, is now live on the company’s devnet. This is a platform wherein Ripple developers will test several implementations before going live on the Ripple mainnet.
XRP Ledger Sidechain by Ripple
As a result, Solidity developers can now build on XRPL. Thus, they can take leverage XRPL’s fast speed, low transactional costs, and other environmental benefits.
For developers to test XRP transfers, Peersyst is launching a cross-chain bridge between the XRPL devnet and XRPL’s EVM-compatible sidechain. Furthermore, these modules will together work to test XRP between the sidechain and the XRPL mainnet. Furthermore, Solidity developers will also be able to expose their decentralized applications (dApps) to users of the XRPL devnet.
Developers willing to experiment on the XRPL sidechain can connect their self-custodian crypto wallet XUMM to the XRPL Devnet and also connect their MetaMask wallet to the EVM sidechain. Speaking on the development, Mayukha Vadari, a developer at RippleX said:
“Many crypto developers today choose to build on Ethereum or EVM-compatible chains because of the popularity of Solidity for programming smart contracts and a robust ecosystem of available developer tools and dApps (decentralized applications). On the other hand, the XRPL appeals to developers because of its speed, low cost, sustainability and other features”.
Three-Phase Implementation Plan
The announcement on Monday, October 17 was just the first of the three-phase implementation plan by Ripple. In the second phase, the XRPL sidechain will be permissionless allowing anyone to join and will go live in early 2023. The third phase will launch in the second quarter when Ripple will deploy the software on the mainnet.
Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz was the first to present this idea of sidechains last year in September 2021. He talked about implementing the EVM-compatible smart contracts on the XRP Ledger while lowering the entry barrier for developers. Speaking to CoinDesk, Schwartz said:
“Our goal in 2023 is to have an EVM sidechain connected to the XRPL mainnet. The bridge in the final solution will be decentralized and all components of the solution will be production ready to handle real world scale and use cases.”
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