Ripple CTO David Schwartz: Reveals some new features for the XRP Ledger during the recent Ripple Drop episode
In the 19th episode of ‘Ripple Drop,’ David Schwartz CTO of Blockchain Ripple company outlined the gradual improvement of XRP Ledger, starting with a small number of nodes in 2011 and currently offering billions of dollars in global payment transactions.
Ripple CTO: New features for XRP Ledger
Schwartz, who has worked at Ripple Labs as a CTO for over nine years, said:
“XRP Ledger has changed drastically during this time.”
From the move, they only use the ledger to allow near-instant transactions. They then move on to other use cases, for example, as a decentralized exchange.
David Schwartz, Ripple CTO
Schwartz said:
“We put all those things together into one operating system, probably in mid-2012.”
Speaking of new modifications, he mentioned that they fall into categories such as core consensus enhancements and new features such as the ability to issue stablecoins and any assets that are tied to some external value.
Slow evolution
Schwartz noted that it was not as easy as initially thought to implement the new features. For example, Oracle may need to update its software. However, this is not the case with decentralized networks that require people to adhere to the new rules.
He asserted:
“If the rules change, people have to run the software with new rules.”
This explains why Bitcoin or XRPL doesn’t quickly accept significant changes.
Despite the drastic changes to XRP Ledger in less than a decade, Schwartz pointed out that it will take some time for Blockchain systems to develop because of their decentralized nature. There are many payment service providers and financial networks that rely on XRP Ledger; you have to realize that you are talking about billions of dollars in a system with no administrators.
Unlike the traditional software model, Schwartz said that no one could be left behind when there are new network updates. Ultimately, everyone who relies on the Blockchain must adapt to every change.
Unlike the traditional software model, Schwartz said that no one could be left behind when there are new network updates. Ultimately, everyone who relies on the Blockchain must adapt to every change.
Schwartz said:
“With any other piece of software, a company will release a new version of the software. Say Oracle releases a new version, and they’ll say to people who have mission-critical deployments, ‘Don’t upgrade to the new version. Just use the current version. Give us a little bit of time to test that.”
Although the pace of progress is methodical, decentralized ledgers are not able to maintain a static state. Ripple is currently proposing several additional features for XRP Ledger, including the ability to delete accounts.
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