Ripple Proposes Adding Federated Sidechains
Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz cites demand from users for smart contract implementation.
Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz proposed introducing federated sidechains to enable implementation of smart contracts adjacent to the XRP Ledger.
- Ripple has resisted smart-contract capabilities because of the risk of compromising the focus on payments, Schwartz wrote in a blog post Monday.
- Demand, however, has increased with the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi).
- Federated sidechains for the XRP Ledger would enable developers to implement native smart contracts that interact with XRP and the XRP Ledger, while keeping the ledger "lean and efficient," Schwartz said.
- They would allow for more specialized projects to be built using Ripple's functionality without compromising the security or efficiency of the ledger because they would be built on sidechains acting as their own blockchains.
Read more: Ripple Touts Role for XRP in Central Bank Digital Currency White Paper
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Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.
Why it matters:
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.
