Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz Takes a Hands-On Role in Expanding the XRP Ledger’s Capabilities
In a move separate from his duties at Ripple, Schwartz announced he is privately funding and operating a powerful new server to bolster the XRPL ecosystem. The initiative will see Schwartz deploy a high-performance server at a New York data center with a 10GB unmetered internet connection. The goal is to establish a central hub for hosting XRPL validators and other services tied to the network. Emphasizing that this is a personal project—not an official Ripple initiative—Schwartz explained it’s aimed at improving network resiliency and performance without interfering in consensus processes.
Ledger Activity Hits New Highs
The infrastructure boost comes at a time of record engagement across the XRP Ledger. More than 70 million transactions were recorded in July alone, pushing the ledger’s all-time total close to 3.83 billion. Onboarding continues at pace, with over 1 million new XRPL accounts created this year and an average of 3,000 new wallets per day.
DeFi and Cross-Chain Growth Accelerate
July also marked a surge in on-chain DeFi activity. Volume on XRPL’s automated market makers climbed 17% to 408 million XRP, while decentralized exchange traffic jumped 21% to 465 million XRP. Cross-chain integrations are expanding, too—over $165 million in assets moved via Axelar to EVM-compatible chains. Stablecoin adoption is gaining traction as well. Brazilian digital bank BrazaBank’s BBRL stablecoin crossed $4.2 million in circulation, making it the second-largest fiat-backed asset on the XRP Ledger.
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Smart Contract Development on the Rise
Momentum also surrounds XRPL’s recently launched Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible sidechain, which went live at the end of June. In just its first week, it attracted over 1,400 smart contracts, combining Ethereum-style programmability with XRPL’s low-fee, fast-settlement infrastructure.
Looking Ahead
With ecosystem metrics climbing and Schwartz’s infrastructure initiative reinforcing the core network, XRP Ledger appears to be entering a pivotal growth phase. These parallel developments—both technical and community-led—position XRPL to accommodate higher transaction throughput and a wider range of decentralized applications in the months ahead.
Kosta Gushterov
Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.
