In a recent Twitter exchange, David Schwartz, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Ripple, weighed in on the ongoing discussions surrounding the XRP Ledger (XRPL) fork Xahau. The discourse was ignited by Saul, a prominent figure in the XRP community, who drew an analogy between XRPL and Nokia, suggesting that Xahau might play the role of Apple, potentially overshadowing XRPL in the same way Apple did to Nokia.
Ripple CTO Comments On Xahau
Schwartz’s response to this analogy was both insightful and comprehensive. He began by drawing parallels to the early days of Bitcoin. “I remember in the early days of bitcoin everyone thought that no cryptocurrency could ever overtake Bitcoin because Bitcoin had first mover advantage and a technical advantage was impossible,” Schwartz remarked. He went on to highlight that Ethereum, despite coming later, managed to adopt technology that was superior to Bitcoin in certain critical ways.
The Ripple CTO emphasized the agility of newer blockchains, stating, “Newer blockchains that start smaller can be more agile and can develop and prove new technologies work with real money and without risking the stability of existing L1 chains.” He also pointed out that while existing chains have the capability to integrate new technologies, they often have valid reasons to refrain from doing so.
Schwartz’s most salient point was his perspective on the relationship between old and new chains. He stated, “Most importantly, I think the idea that a new chain will detract from an old chain is an extremely unlikely thing to worry about. We should be working together to grow the pie rather than resenting something new that can grow the pie for everyone because it takes a slice.”
The recent release of the Xahau Whitepaper by XRPL Labs has stirred significant interest within the XRP community. One of the standout features of Xahau is the introduction of Hooks, which brings the capability of smart contracts to the chain. However, it’s essential to understand that Xahau is not necessarily in direct competition with XRPL.
The Ripple CTO’s comments underscore the idea that blockchain evolution is not a zero-sum game. Older chains like XRPL, with their history, infrastructure, and trust, can coexist harmoniously with newer projects like Xahau, which are pushing the boundaries of innovation.
Wietse Wind of XRPL Labs recently tweeted about the collaboration that led to Xahau, expressing pride in the joint effort with entities like Gate Hub, Alloy Networks, and Evernode XRPL. He emphasized:
We believe this is the best (fastest, safest) way to get Hooks (lightweight smart contracts for the XRPL Protocol) out there. Now we can shortly start building all the things we have envisioned for every day life utility: powered by the XRP Ledger protocol.
Moreover, Wind reassured that XRP Labs will continue to build software for the entire XRP Ledger ecosystem, “everything we build will be open for the entire ecosystem to benefit from. We believe a multi-chain XRP Ledger Protocol ecosystem can bring both the proven resilience of XRPL Mainnet & the endless new possibilities of Hooks,” Wind added.
In conclusion, the emergence of Xahau and its potential innovations does not spell the end for XRPL. Instead, it represents the evolution and expansion of the blockchain ecosystem, where multiple chains can coexist, each serving its unique purpose and audience (while Ripple could even profit fro the development).
At press time, the XRP price remained at a crucial price level, trying to reclaim the multi-month trend line (black).
Featured image from BitcoinWiki, chart from TradingView.com