ETH Rio 24 - Fireside Chat With David Schwartz: The Future of XRPL | David Schwartz, Abner Pinto

Transcript

can you hear me I yeah I am hey uh so welcome everybody uh we'll do a a little fireside chat with David uh the CTO of Ripple welcome David can you hear me okay I can hear clear okay perfect so David um as the xrp ler grows and continues to you know grow globally uh

can you tell us about some of the core capabilities and some of the recent innovations that the xer is bringing you know that Brazilian developers and the Brazilian Community can use sure rle work with the community to bring this automated Market maker feature the most recent xrp Ledger feature which is now live on The xrp Ledger main Network this automated Market maker facilitates automatic trading and liquidity provision without the need for traditional order books it's a core primitive on The xrp Ledger it's not implemented as a smart contract it's implemented as a core Ledger feature which means that developers can use it without having to create smart contracts and users don't have to interact with smart contracts which reduces the risks that a smart contract

might might be you know might have something malicious or might have some sort of a bug or error liquidity for all trading pairs is aggregated at the protocol layer there's one automated Market maker feature on The xrp Ledger there's one Dex on The xrp Ledger so it's not fragmented across individual smart contracts which gives a better overall liquidity the SRP Ledger automated Market maker has some unique features like near instant settlement ultr low transaction fees and support for various token standards it also has something called The Continuous auction feature which takes some of the money that would normally be made by arbitragers and gives it back to the liquidity providers these features make it an attractive option for developers looking to build defi applications with high efficiency and with low costs another new development not currently deployed is

The xrp Ledger native lending protocol which takes a new approach to decentralized lending does again doesn't rely on Smart contracts like most defi platforms it would be integrated at the Ledger's protocol layer as a core Ledger feature this integration means there's no need for onchain collateral uses offchain underwriting in mismanagement which reduces cost has a first loss Capital protection scheme which secures the system this simplifies The Lending process and makes it more accessible to a broader range of users The Lending protocol development is being carried out now with ongoing Community feedback developers borrowers potential liquidity providers are invited to engage with the protocol in the development Network report bugs suggest improvements and so on these advancements and the defi capabilities on The xrp Ledger will offer developers globally and startups

tools to build Innovative Financial applications the xlp ledgers focus on efficiency accessibility and Community involvement makes it an ideal platform for the growing VY ecosystem in Brazil and Beyond thank you David yeah I think that's uh that's a great set of uh features that thank you for the overview I think that's really interesting for for the community here to see so Switching gears a little bit uh Ripple recently announced a stable coin and of course we're issuing this stable coin on The xrp Ledger uh but also why why did we pick the to launch it as well Ripple's launching a stable coin it'll be a USD Peg stable coin back one to one with real US Dollars we're going

to issue initially on both The xop Ledger and the ethereum blockchain this is a way for ripple to continue Bridging the Gap between traditional finance and crypto uh the stable coin Market is massive currently around 150 billion dollars and we expect that it's going to exceed 2.8 trillion by 2028 so there's there's definite demand I also don't think that it's a win or take Market if stable coins are going to be used on decentralized networks it doesn't make sense to have a whole defi ecosystem built around a single centralized counterparty and these collateralized stable coins necessarily have a central counterparty yeah we're launching the stable coin on ethereum in addition to the xrp Ledger Ripple is a big believer in the power of cross-chain interoperability we believe the future of crypto is multi-chain and so that'll

start to enable greater cross chain opportunities I don't think it's realistic that one blockchain is going to do everything that like like every user wants if you look at compelling ecosystems like the internet there's no one company that's the reason that you have home internet access there's no one product or service that's the reason that we all have smartphones that allow us to access the internet it's the entire ecosystem that's compelling and I think that same thing is going to have to be the way that this the way this u space is successful just like it Google couldn't be the only successful internet company or Amazon couldn't be the only successful internet company there's no way for there to be one successful blockchain or one successful blockchain company there's going to have to be a compelling ecosystem that provides

products and services that a vast array of users find interesting and then users will use the ecosystems and the products and services on the different blockchains that they find interesting so of course launching on ethereum allows our stable coin to interact with all the def5 protocols and daps on the ethereum ecosystem which unlocks a wide range of use cases and opportunities yeah absolutely so switching to a subject that I think is a Hot Topic both Within Ripple and Brazil uh real world assets so uh how can the xrp Ledger facilitate the tokenization of real world assets and um what are the primary advantages for financial institutions engaging with blockchain

technology the reality is that most of the world's value is not on blockchains it's not on decentralized networks it's in things like real estate and securities and carbon credits and financial assets and all of these things things that are just not on public blockchains or ledgers real world asset tokenization will make those assets accessible to people who are sort of inde by ecosystems those assets can be digitally represented on The xrp Ledger and this enabled things like tractional ownership using them as collateral for borrowing increased liquidity easier trading so it just it just it just expands the universe of things that you can do with these tokenized assets on The xrp Ledger tokenization streamlines ownership transfer transactions can be settled

quickly securely with low costs and that's especially interesting for financial institutions who are trying to optimize their operations Ripple recently partnered with ZX which is a tokenization platform to tokenize real world assets on The xrp Ledger for financial institutions real world asset tokenization uh particularly on The xrp Ledger allows increased transparency improve risk management the ability to offer new services and products to their customers and just the ability to have greater reach Absol absolutely um So within the subject of financial institutions Brazil has a a large footprint in in digital banking so you know it's ripe for blockchain integration so how does the

xrpl enhance financial services for Brazilian institutions there's definitely a lot of ways The xrp Ledger can enhance financial services for Brazilians and Brazilian institutions for one thing it's The xrp Ledger lowcost transactions making it ideal for crossb payments financial institutions can Leverage The xrp Ledger for faster and cheaper International remittances um it also is beneficial to reach underserved populations re uh fostering greater Financial inclusion there's transparency and immutability that could help financial institutions in Brazil combating things like fraud money laundering and financial crimes there's also a heavy focus on interoperability um the focus on interoperability would allow Brazilian

institutions to connect with other blockchain networks and traditional Financial systems this interconnectedness enables seamless asset transfer and communication across different platforms again I think if we're going to present a compelling set of products or services to people it's going to have to be a vast array of products and services it's not interesting to you know if you have a browser on the internet and you're only going to one website that's not very interesting right it's having all of it's the ability to move assets between all of these different products and services that's going to make that interesting so again heavy focus on interoperability and of course Ripple's actively engaging with regulators and poly policy makers in Brazil and around the world to ensure The xrp Ledger integration with financial services is

compliant and and meets local regulations absolutely and and to touch a little bit more on on something you said earlier uh you mention a lot that the future blockchain is multi-chain and so with a landscape that's increasingly leaning towards towards this how is the xrpl positioning itself in in this landscape I I Absolut I absolutely firmly believe that there's not going to be a single chain future there's not going to be one blockchain there's not going to be one product there's not going to be one service that provides everything that everybody wants it's going to be this compelling Universe of products services and blockchains that's going to bring people in and then they'll use the products and services

that best meet their needs for particular things and then it's on all of us developers and and product managers you know and companies throughout the system to build the products and services that are attractive to customers but we need to have a sort of large customer base and it's going to take a wide array of things that's going to sort of attract that mass Market you know you couldn't you you Twitter would not be a viable business if Twitter had to put phones in everybody's hands right you know Amazon wouldn't be a viable business if Amazon had to build the internet or build or you know or build smartphones right it's the fact that there's a there's an interoperable system that they can sort of they can sort of like declare a niche in and and so interoperability is going to be absolutely crucial this will make

more robust and interconnected uh applications driving mainstream adoption Ripple recently announced a partnership with Axel Foundation to integrate with the xrp ledger to provide efficient transfer of assets across over 55 connected blockchains so projects like that as well as ecosystem oper interoperability initiative such as Corum uh will help to uh expand the reach and utility of The xrp Ledger for both be buy and real world assets thank you all and since we are uh at e3o um could you share some updates on xrp's upcoming uh integration with evm yeah as I mentioned before The xrp Ledger is a fixed function blockchain it's somewhere in between Bitcoin and

ethereum Bitcoin is a fixed function blockchain but the functionality is fairly limited whereas ethereum is not a fixed functionality blockchain right you can write a smart contract to add functionality that that it doesn't have and you could add a feature that only you care about and you don't have to develop a consensus around that feature but the downside of that is that you have an ecos system of smart contracts and nobody knows what they all do you've probably heard stories of people who have had assets stolen from them because they agreed to Smart contracts they didn't understand um and so the xop ler sort of staked out a sort of in between position which H it has the flexibility to have things like dex's real world asset tokenization and automated Market maker that you probably couldn't build on a blockchain like Bitcoin but it also

doesn't have the risk associated with smart contracts but the downside of that is you can't address that sort of long tale of applications that need very very customized functionality so it was definitely a deliberate feature that The xrp Ledger doesn't have evm programmability um it Mak sure that everything sort of aligns with performance and security but it also means a lack of flexibility uh and so recently there was an amendment called XLS 38 which will allow The xrp Ledger to interoperate with evm side chains um so that'll mean that you'll be able to build evm side chains that you can UPG you know you can upload the same types of smart contracts you would use on ethereum um and you can have xrp as a digital asset on them for expanded functionality thank you I think Jazzy Co

Jazzy Cooper my colleague is going to be talking more about our our um announcement with pierus and the Ean s indeed yeah that would be a very exciting one um so to switch gears a little bit uh you know AI is becoming an increasingly larger and influential Tech and so can you share how AI is being integrated with the xrpl to enhance blockchain Innovation and how can can the developers take advantage of it I definitely think that AI is going to play a pivotal role in making blockchain safer more reliable and easier to use AI can guard against threats AI can ensure the security and integrity of onchain transactions I think that uh the potential of AI can

help revolutionize the finance industry on the blockchain providing things like Market insights automated trading and potentially offering personalized Financial advice tailored to individual needs I think we'll see things like AI agents that can sort of act like humans moving around an ecosystem it's obvious like how you would use these things in games but I think they're useful in real world practical applications as well um and I think AI could make an impact in the development process itself um we're committed to making blockchain development on The xrp Ledger more accessible and less timec consuming especially for those new to the field so a huge breakthrough here is generative AI I'm sure most of the people um you know have used generative AI they've

seen things like AI chatbots uh these tools enable developers to quickly receive answers to their queries streamlining their Journey from concept to application one of the problems with documentation is you can write detailed documentation on a feature and you can write an introduction to a feature but that isn't necessarily going to be the sort of set of information that a particular user needs at a particular time particular user may have a particular background they have particular tools they're using and need the explanation of a feature so it's translated into the right terms for them it's just not practical to write documentation for every possible use case that a person reading the documentation might have ai chat Bots are fantastic at taking documentation on

programming languages documentation on Ledger features documentation on Smart contracts and sort of piecing them together and you know if you want to explain like I'm 10 it'll do that for you if you want like great technical analysis it'll do that for you so I think that's very very promising uh both for developers and also just for ordinary users to get them documentation information that's accessible to them so that kind of instense support and guidance um will Empower developers and users um to be able to build and use Creative Solutions more efficiently I think that's not only uh that integration of AI Into The xrp Ledger ecosystem will not only Foster increased Innovation on blockchains but I think it's going to contribute to Greater

Financial inclusion I think there's a there's barriers to entry of all kinds um that AI I think can help with the big one is access access to information and and access to development tools making them more accessible more user friendly we can attract a broader range of developers from diverse backgrounds and so on I think this approach will help lead to the creation of Novel applications and services that can cater to the unique needs of communities worldwide ultimately promoting Financial Empowerment on a global scale I think there's also a lot of interest uh a lot of potential applications in Regulatory Compliance uh AI is also really good at classifying so you can look at transactions you can Mark particular transactions as fraud then you can ask

AI to look at transactions you know that are incoming to find new types of fraud you can do fraud detection without AI but it's not quite so good as sort of at sort of finding new types of fraud without an enormous amount of human intervention so I think that kind of um sort of blockchain policing um particularly to deal with fraud and scams and thefts and I'm sure anybody who's been you know in the blockchain space for you know more for even a fairly moderate amount of time you've experienced some of the you know the thefts and scams and so I'm hoping that AI can provide more rapid detection so exchanges can more rapidly warn you if you're moving funds to a scam and so on so I think there's I think there's a lot of applications for AI you know in The

xrp Ledger ecosystem and in the blockchain ecosystem more generally absolutely and I think to since you mentioned chatbots I I I believe there's two uh both on beta versions one on xr. org and one on the developers Discord uh for those who who visit those uh so uh one more question fun to play with yeah super fun to play with it really it is it is if anybody here has not played with generative AI um they are they are super fun to play with and they're really good at explaining things without you having to search for you know they're really they're like turbocharged search engines that can produce the results in whatever format you want they're tremendously useful absolutely so um one last

question what is specific initiatives you know for those who are looking to build on The xrp Ledger what are the initiatives and the program that that Ripple offers to support them building on The xrp Ledger there are there are a vast array of programs most of them you can find through xr. org so there's the xrpl grants program which Ripple launched in 2021 and FS Ripple shared Vision with the developer developer Community to help build the internet of value by contributing improvements in new use cases to blockchain technology and specifically The xrp Ledger the grants program to date has awarded more than $14 million to more than 140 projects built on The xrp Ledger Ripple committed 1 billion xrp to accelerate development

and new use cases on The xrp Ledger and over the next 10 to 20 years that 1 billion xrp and the rest of the grants program will be dispersed to developers eager to build and scale apps improve the concept to new businesses on The xrp Ledger the funds programs are specifically designed to accelerate train M during scale projects developed by the xrpl community including applications like decentralized Finance diversity and inclusion and sustainability then there's Apex which is a um conference hosted by Ripple it's coming up I think um next month in Amsterdam so definitely a place to go it's the annual event where developers contributors and thought leaders come together to learn build share Network and celebrate All Things xrp Ledger it's

it's a lot of fun this xrp Ledger hackathons open to all developers interested in building apps to improve lives in the real world using any of the sdks and apis for The xrp Ledger there's an xrp Ledger learning portal which is an interactive tool that simplifies the learning experience to building on The xrp Ledger the learning portal is easy it's interactive can get you started in your web three Journey whether you want to get acquainted with the basics of crypto and blockchain or jump into learning how to code on the so pgo you can create your learning path with this platform we have some uh new courses with react uh building with react.js which which is a great tool to interact with the xrp ledger so new react developers can learn how to code on xrp Ledger they get up and running with with you know it includes creating setting an

account sending xrp creating trust lines doing all you know all of The xrp Ledger features um there's an accelerator program we know that there is challenges that startups and new projects Spas so Ripple introduced The xrp Ledger accelerator program this initiative provides selected project with resources mentorship and access to a network of Industry experts it's designed to FastTrack their development and enhance their integration with the xrp letterer ensuring their setup for long-term success this is a 12we program that helped entrepreneurs build P Ledger and attain Mass adoption teams can earn up to $50,000 program Grant gain valuable insights from industry leading mentors repine product Market Fit connect with investors and partners and so on um you can find links to all this stuff on

xr. org yeah and I think what's so cool about Ripple's programs is that no matter what stage you are in your journey developing on xrp Ledger you can find the program that fits you yeah you can you know you can start exploring you can learn the features I mean there's a lot of it is it is a different ecosystem for people I imagine most of the people who are listening to me right now are familiar with the ethereum ecosystem it is a different ecosystem the transaction tend to be faster they tend to be cheaper there's no maximum value extraction there's no block producers that can reorder transactions but it is it is fixed function you can't create a smart contract so you're limited to the functionality The Ledger has but it has a de it has nfts it has an automated

Market maker it has issued assets it has real world asset tokenization it has escrow and payment Channel features so it has a wide variety of features that should you know that should allow you to perform a wide range of and financial applications it's great for payments it has a cross currency and cross issue a payment system with path finding you can draw down multiple paths simultaneously for better liquidity um it's it's it's got it's it's it's different I wouldn't I wouldn't argue that it's better than ethereum but it's it's different and it's worth it's worth understanding what it does well and what it maybe doesn't do so well so that if you have an application that does fit the design of The xrp Ledger um you may you may be able to get a better product

experience a better user experience lower cost faster transactions and easier development absolutely and I think as we got you the the end of this conversation I know there's there's a little fun fact that I wanted to share that I think is very personal to you uh which is the xrp lger had the first deck uh that's that's existed right yeah yeah that's kind of it's kind of funny so in the very early days of the development of The xrp Ledger we realized that we had a blockchain that didn't have block producers so Bitcoin was the only other blockchain design at the time and Bitcoin has a minor who gets to choose which transactions go in which block and in the early days we realized that our design doesn't have a block producer it has a consensus mechanism that truly reaches a Cooperative consensus on which

transactions go in which block and so we thought well what's that good for and one of the first things that we realize is that if you're going to have a DEX you really don't want a block producer who can prevent you from cancel you know if you make an offer and the market moves against you they could take your offer they could sort of you know they could unfairly bias the system and front run and so we realized that we had a ledger that didn't have that possibility of a block producer who could sort of monopolize The Ledger and so we realized pretty early that if you wanted a decentralized exchange that was the kind of you know that was the optimum kind of design for that type of system and so we built a decentralized exchange and we didn't call them stable coins but stable

coins way back in 2012 yeah uh okay so I think uh we'll close this conversation thank you so much David for participating and yeah thanks so much thanks was a pleasure have a great rest of your day thank you everyone thanks