In response to recent claims suggesting that Ripple could unilaterally change the XRP Ledger, the company’s CTO David Schwartz has released a clarifying statement.
The controversy arose after Ripple published a blog post discussing the potential for increased programmability within the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
Schwartz addressed the concerns directly, saying that Ripple has neither the ability nor the desire to unilaterally change XRPL. “Ripple cannot (and certainly does not want to) unilaterally change the XRP Ledger,” Schwartz said. He explained that the blog post was intended to convey that Ripple recognizes the value of increasing programmability on the XRPL Mainnet. This would be in addition to ongoing developments with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain.
Schwartz explained that Ripple’s goal was not to present a pre-built proposal, but to transparently share the company’s current focus and invite community input. “Rather than come out with a ready-made proposal, our goal was to be transparent and show where we were going to focus internal resources and priorities,” Schwartz said. Ripple plans to conduct extensive due diligence before submitting a design proposal for community review.
According to Schwartz, the shift in focus stems from recent conversations with stakeholders like Orchestra Finance and other community members. These discussions revealed that programmability on the XRPL Mainnet is possible if key challenges like ledger bloat, loss of transactions per second (TPS), and potential bugs or exploits are effectively addressed. While Schwartz was initially skeptical about the feasibility of smart contracts on the Mainnet without changing the fundamental structure of XRPL, he now acknowledged that he sees a path forward.
Asking “Why now?” Schwartz explained that the timing was influenced by upcoming XRP community events in Korea and Japan. These meetings provide valuable opportunities for face-to-face discussions on programmability. Schwartz assured the community that there was no hidden agenda behind this timing, adding that Ripple remains committed to transparency.
*This is not investment advice.
