Ripple will update the XRP Ledger "in the spirit of Ethereum"

The Ripple team will add more programmable features to the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This was stated by DL News CTO David Schwartz.

The "Ethereum-inspired" update includes the launch of smart contracts for payment management and a new lending protocol.

According to Schwartz, the goal is to gain the advantages of programmability while minimizing the associated risks. The team does not aim to achieve the same level of flexibility as Ethereum, but seeks to expand the functionality of XRPL. For example, smart contracts will allow for automatic conversion of received funds into the asset preferred by the user.

The lending protocol, which is planned to be launched in the third quarter, will be hybrid. An off-chain agent will take care of borrower curation and debt collection, while XRPL will tokenize the interest in repayments and distribute payments.

"It's a kind of good separation between TradFi on the front end and DeFi on the back end," Schwartz explained.

Alongside technical upgrades, Ripple continues to acquire other companies.

"Our mergers and acquisitions department is very busy. We have several potential deals at various stages," said Schwartz.

Earlier, Ripple acquired the crypto broker Hidden Road and the custody firms Metaco and Standard Custody. According to Schwartz, crypto companies have a unique opportunity for acquisitions, as traditional financial giants from Wall Street have not yet entered into active competition for these assets.

Recall that in June, the investment company Guggenheim Treasury Services launched digital commercial paper on the XRPL.

Later, Circle released the USDC stablecoin on the Ripple network.