- The XRP Ledger has made noticeable gains in smart contracts, interoperability/bridging and tokenization in 2025.
- The focus for 2026 should be less friction for onboarding, more high-quality assets and a better incentive program.
At the end of the year, voices from the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem draw a mixed, overall positive assessment for 2025: noticeable progress in smart contracts, interoperability and tokenization, but still weak points in user onboarding, asset quality, incentives and DEX liquidity.
Via X, dUNL validator Vet (@Vet_X0) and Anodos Finance CEO Panos Mekras explain where the
XRP Ledger Achievements 2025
Vet describes 2025 will be a year in which several strands of development have progressed at the same time, especially when it comes to smart contracts. In his X contribution he emphasized the great progress:
“There’s been a lot of development in smart contracts to get the alpha testnet out – you can deploy it today and play around with it. There’s also a lot more attention in the community.”
For the community, this represents less of a hype moment and more of a foundation: more maturity in the stack, more visibility, more opportunities for developers.
In the DeFi space, Vet paints a picture familiar to many ecosystems: strong momentum at launch, then disillusionment.
“XRP DeFi came out of 2024 strong – with meme coins – but activity has dried up over the year. Baseline activity on the DEX is higher than before, but in 2026 we have huge potential to expand on that.”
On the infrastructure side, Vet refers to concrete integrations: Wormhole has gone live, as has Axelar; In addition, “bridged yield-bearing issued assets” have been launched on the XRPL. Technologically, however, there is still potential for optimization in the long term:
“ZKP looks like an enabler for more trust-minimized bridging.”
In parallel, Vet highlights tokenization as a particularly strong field in 2025, with RLUSD as the driving force:
“Tokenization has been very strong with RLUSD, as well as smaller launches of other stablecoins and tokenized funds. However, the distribution channels of these assets are still something we need to work on.”
He ties this directly to adoption: Distribution goes “hand in hand” with DeFi and app development, i.e. with what actually attracts and retains users.
Further need for improvement in 2026
Panos Mekras formulated three priorities for 2026, primarily aimed at adoption and expanding the ecosystem. First:
“Batch transactions and sponsored fees/reserves should go live as soon as possible because they are critical to removing friction and enabling mass consumer onboarding.”
Secondly, he calls for “more high-quality” assets on the XRPL, especially RWAs: These include, among other things, yield-bearing stablecoins, tokenized stocks and commodities. Thirdly, according to Mekras, better incentives are needed:
“Finally a serious incentive and grant program – the XRP Ledger Foundation needs to step up with real resources for builders: better dev tools, funding for killer consumer apps and use cases that can bring millions to the
Vet expressly agrees and comments briefly: He agrees to “all three wishes”.
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