Ripple’s CTO proposed launching a sidechain based on XRP

Ripple’s chief technology officer, David Schwartz, published a proposal to launch federated sidechains on the XRP Ledger. The solution will enable connecting smart contracts and creating decentralised applications using the network’s native token.

Today I introduced my vision for adding federated sidechains to the XRP Ledger which means a lot of things but essentially that anyone who wants to, can run a sidechain to the XRPL. 1/6 https://t.co/5dqXLfdVrk

— Ｄａｖｉｄ　»ＪｏｅｌＫａｔｚ»　Ｓｃｈｗａｒｔｚ (@JoelKatz) June 7, 2021

According to Schwartz, smart contracts are among the most sought-after features for developers and members of the XRP Ledger community. The demand for the tool is driven by the popularity of applications in the decentralised finance sphere.

«In fact, since 2019 the number of DeFi developers has grown by 110%, and, according to forecasts, it will continue to rise after 2021. Nevertheless, we at Ripple have long opposed features that could distract the XRP Ledger from its focus on highly efficient payments», — added Schwartz.

The chief technology officer noted that sidechains will allow developers to experiment with smart contracts while keeping the main network simple, efficient and secure.

The essence of the concept is that sidechains will function as separate blockchains, but use XRP as the main asset. In addition, they will be able to issue their own tokens.

Each sidechain will receive a trusted account on the XRP Ledger network to store user assets. These accounts will use multi-signatures, with the signatories being the validators of the sidechains.

Linkage between ledgers will be provided by federators — software that connects the main network with one or more sidechains. They enable moving assets between systems.

Validators managing at least one sidechain will be able to run the federator software. According to Schwartz, integrating the new solution will require ‘just two trivial changes’ to the existing XRP Ledger.

Among the advantages of the federated system, he noted reduced risks, the potential for horizontal scalability and long-term development, as well as ease of integrating experimental applications.

Earlier, Ripple announced the pilot testing of a private version of the XRP Ledger, intended for the launch of central bank digital currencies.