Ripple to launch EVM-compatible sidechain

The payment company Ripple’s very own blockchain, the XRP Ledger, will now allow developers to deploy smart contracts after testing its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible sidechain.

According to CoinDesk, Ripple and XRPL will profit from the sidechain since it will make it easy to use the applications and smart contracts that have been implemented on the Ethereum network in the Ripple ecosystem.

Notably, EVM is a program used for running self-executing smart contracts on Ethereum. Ripple’s devnet, a network where developers test new software ahead of their official launch to a wider audience, has already published the sidechain running along the XRPL.

David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer at Ripple said that the company aims to have an EVM sidechain connected to the XRPL mainnet by 2023. He added:

“The bridge in the final solution will be decentralized and all components of the solution will be production ready to handle real world scale and use cases.”

Ripple expanding in Europe

The company that created XRPL, Ripple Labs, recently began operations in Europe amid a prolonged bear market and widespread recessionary fears in the cryptocurrency industry. Lemonway, a regulated payments provider for online marketplaces situated in Paris, and Xbaht, a Swedish money transfer provider, have already signed partnerships with Ripple, as TheCoinRise reported. 

Under the new deal, which was focused on providing remittance services between Sweden and Thailand, the two European companies will use its “On-Demand Liquidity” solution, which enables “customers to move money around the world without the need for correspondent banking relationships and the pre-funding of accounts abroad.” The company’s managing director for the U.K. and Europe Sendi Young stated:

“It’s not pleasant to see other companies in a tough situation in this market environment, but we do find ourselves growing fast and also we are well funded. We are opportunistically looking at some strategic investment opportunities.”