- The XRP community voted overwhelmingly in favor of integrating smart contract functionalities, known as Hooks, into the XRP Ledger.
- Despite broad support, some members and Ripple’s CTO have expressed concerns about potential risks and deviations from XRPL’s primary function.
The XRP Ledger (XRPL) community has shown strong support for the integration of smart contract functionalities via a feature known as Hooks. A recent poll initiated by Vet, an XRP Ledger ambassador, revealed a substantial consensus within the XRP community in favor of adopting Hooks, a proposal to introduce native smart contracts on the XRPL.
Conducted over a weekend on the social media platform X, the survey attracted 11,503 participants. 93.6% of respondents endorsed the proposal, signaling a robust community backing for the smart contract initiative. This result demonstrates the community’s readiness for advanced blockchain functionalities and fulfills the prerequisite of 10,000 affirmative votes needed for the proposal’s further consideration.
Do you want Hooks
, native Smart Contracts, on the XRP Ledger ?
— Vet
(@Vet_X0) February 10, 2024
The introduction of Hooks is anticipated to significantly enhance the XRPL by enabling smart contract functionalities, which are essential for automating processes and creating decentralized applications. Richard Holland, CTO of XRPL Labs and the lead architect behind Hooks, has outlined the next steps, which involve integrating the smart contract proposal into the Rippled codebase, followed by a formal vote. The community’s strong support is a green light for the team to move forward to bring smart contracts to the XRPL.
It has to be merged into the rippled codebase before it can be put to a vote. Back-porting the current version of Hooks to rippled is quite a bit of work. If you get 10,000 yes votes on a poll for Hooks on mainnet we’ll open a new PR.
— RichardAH
Mixed Reactions and the Road Ahead
While the community’s support for Hooks is clear, the proposal has not been without its detractors. Concerns have been raised regarding the potential risks associated with introducing smart contract capabilities to the XRPL. Critics, including Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz, have warned that Hooks could transform the XRPL into a network more akin to Ethereum, deviating from its primary function as a payment protocol. These reservations highlight the delicate balance between innovation and maintaining the core attributes that have defined XRPL’s success.
Its absolutely critical that people are informed before voicing an opinion on a subject such as this. The original poll didn’t preface this. My main issue is if you enable hooks, it paves the way for other smart contracts, and detracts from what actually makes XRPL robust.
—
Cookie Crypto
Despite these concerns, the successful poll indicates a community eager to explore new frontiers. Richard Holland’s call to action for the RippleX team to provide engineering and financial support underscores the collaborative effort required to bring Hooks to fruition. As the XRPL community stands at the cusp of a significant evolution, integrating smart contracts through Hooks promises to unlock new possibilities and challenges.
XRP Ledger’s Q4 Performance: A Snapshot
Amidst the buzz around Hooks, the XRP Ledger has shown notable performance in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to a report by Messari, XRP emerged as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, boasting a remarkable year-over-year growth. Moreover, this surge is attributed to the strategic distribution of 4 billion XRP and a significant price spike, highlighting the dynamic and the dynamic nature of the XRPL ecosystem.
Moreover, the XRPL concluded a multi-year legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), further solidifying its position in the crypto market. Despite fluctuations in active addresses, transactions on the XRPL experienced an overall increase during Q4 2023. While active addresses decreased by 31.3% QoQ, transactions saw a significant rise of 22.7% QoQ.
Notably, a considerable portion of transaction activity originated from a group of accounts engaged in inscription-related activities. Additionally, the number of accounts on the XRPL expanded by 188,000, reaching a total of 5.00 million by the end of Q4.
