Ripple Labs Upgrades XRP Ledger to Attract Institutional Investors

United States-based fintech company Ripple has shared a roadmap of future upgrades that will improve XRP for use cases geared at institutional investors.

United States-based fintech company Ripple has shared a roadmap of future upgrades that will improve XRP for use cases geared at institutional investors.

The cryptocurrency industry has seen a vast shift in regulatory interest, with the U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) recently dropping several high-profile cases against firms in the industry, such as Coinbase (NASDAQ:), Uniswap and OpenSea. This has led to increased attention on other regulatory developments that could impact the crypto market.

On the other hand, we’ve also seen Donald Trump promise a crypto-friendly regulatory environment after taking office in January. This could also be a crucial factor in the final outcome of the SEC lawsuit against Ripple, which has been a key topic of discussion among crypto enthusiasts.

The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC has been closely followed by the crypto community, especially as it could determine the fate of XRP and the broader industry. The SEC’s claims that Ripple’s token sales were unregistered securities have far-reaching implications for the cryptocurrency sector.

After Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election last November, we’ve seen a strong rally in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin (BTC) and other major tokens like XRP showing significant gains. This surge in interest and prices has been attributed to several factors, including macroeconomic trends, institutional adoption and, to a lesser extent, regulatory developments.

If Ripple can emerge from the lawsuit as the clear victor, we could see a further resurgence for XRP, especially since we’re already seeing some promising avenues for the XRP Ledger, such as the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). For instance, earlier this year, we learned that the World Economic Forum (WEF) is working with Ripple to pilot a blockchain-based trade finance project with several banks and corporations.

Moreover, we’ve seen several large companies exploring the potential of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, which could create new use cases for XRP and other tokens. These developments suggest that the cryptocurrency industry is evolving rapidly, and the outcome of the SEC lawsuit and Trump’s administration could have lasting impacts on the sector’s trajectory.

Here’s a summary of a recent post by Ripple, highlighting the upcoming changes to the XRP Ledger:

* Decentralized identity (DID) and credentials: The XRP Ledger will be upgraded with Credentials, which will help enable features such as permissioned domains and a permissioned DEX, providing an institutional-grade identity system on the XRP Ledger.

* Multi-purpose token (MPT) standard: A new token standard designed to support real-world assets such as bonds and securities. MPTs will function as semfi-fungible tokens, and will be able to carry metadata while still being tradeable.

* XRP Ledger lending protocol: A protocol that supports institutional lending, stablecoin-backed loans, and RWA-based credit.

* Improved programmability: Extensions will improve existing XRP Ledger features without requiring full smart contract functionality. This will enable customization of features such as escrows, AMMs and tokens.