XRP Ledger Smart Contracts Are In Development-Ripple’s Former Director

Smart contracts are currently in the development process.
Ripple extended the deadline to submit non-fungible token (NFT) project applications.
A huge amount of XRP tokens were transferred from unknown wallets.

Matt Hamilton, Ripple’s former director of developer relations, announced upcoming developments on XRP Ledger. He revealed that the blockchain will soon introduce smart contracts currently in the “development process.”

But it is unclear whether Hamilton was referring to smart contracts on the $XRP Ledger. Earlier on April 19, 2021, Ripple Labs tweeted, “On July 30 2020 we announced our vision on the Hooks Amendment for the XRP Ledger to add business logic support (smart contracts) to the XRP Ledger.”

July 30th 2020 we announced our vision on the Hooks Amendment for the XRP Ledger to add business logic support (smart contracts) to the XRP Ledger.
We published blogs, insights, concepts & considerations along the way. We are really proud to present our PUBLIC BETA TESTNET today. pic.twitter.com/3DytxM27DD
— XRPL Labs (@XRPLLabs) April 19, 2021

The Hooks Amendment may help in increasing the utility of decentralized applications that were mainly popular on Ethereum. Decentralized applications run on blockchain that combines smart contracts and front-end user interface.

Currently, Hamilton is working as Principal Developer Advocate at Protocol Labs. He recently reacted to a tweet that said “$XRP has no utility and is heavily centralized.” Hamilton replied, “literally being used daily for cross border payments, NFTs, web monetization,etc.”

Well, most functionality needed (fungible tokens, NFTs, escrows, multisig, DEX) are all built in.
But yes, smart contracts are in development
— Matt Hamilton (@HammerToe) December 22, 2022

NFT’s On The XRP Ledger

To support developers to bring their innovative NFT projects and market those on the XRP Ledger, Ripple announced a $250 million creator fund. On December 17, Ripple announced that it would extend the deadline to submit NFT project applications for the Ripple creator fund. Wave 3 will remain open until January 18, 2023. As per the Ripple website, “Ripple’s creator fund is open to non-technical indie creators.”

Ripple’s Cross-Border Payments

To help users send money quickly and efficiently across different borders in exchange for goods and services, Ripple introduced cross-border payments on the platform. Ripple’s solution has significantly reduced cross-border transfer costs and delivery time.

As per Ripple’s website, “deliver real-time global payments without tying up capital in destination markets. SME payments, disbursements and treasury flows that are faster, more reliable and more affordable for organizations and customers.”

On December 22, Whale alert, a blockchain data tracker tweeted that a huge amount of XRP tokens were transferred from unknown wallets to Bitstamp exchange.

According to CoinMarketCap, XRP went up by 0.92% in the past 24 hours at $0.34.

Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/12/25/xrp-ledger-smart-contracts-are-in-development-ripples-former-director/