Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently responded to criticism directed at XRP Ledger (XRPL), claiming that XRP has no real utility.
X-users claimed that XRP had reached a massive market capitalization (currently $140 billion) despite little value being generated. The user further cited data from Defillama, saying that the XRP ledger (XRPL) had only recorded $44,000 over 24 hours.
In response, Ripple CTO rejected the discussion, saying that the numbers referenced likely explained XRPL’s Automatic Market Maker (AMM).
You know that XRPL is DEX, right?
– David “Joelkatz” Schwartz (@Joelkatz) March 22, 2025
As the conversation continued, another X-user asked about other use cases in the XRP ledger. The Ripple CTO responded by highlighting the native capabilities of the XRP ledger, a distributed exchange. “You know XRPL is DEX, right?” Schwartz added.
XRP ledger highlights
XRP ledgers support a wide range of functions beyond AMM, including cross currency, cross-border payments and tokenization, among other things. Core value proposals for XRP ledger (XRPL) include native features such as tokens, NFTS, distributed exchange (DEX), escrow features, embedded compliance, and token management.
NFTs like issued currency (also known as native tokens) are built into XRPL’s core protocols and do not require smart contracts to be created or transferred. The XLS-20 standardized NFTS will offer perks such as royalties and anti-spam measures in October 2022.
Currently, 7,744,695 NFTs have been created using the XLS-20 standard. On December 17th, 2024, Ripple’s USD page Stablecoin, RLUSD was released in both XRPL and Ethereum. Stablecoin is fully supported by US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasury and “other cash equivalents” with monthly third-party proof.
The XRPL base layer currently does not support any smart contracts. This was a deliberate design decision to promote security and stability rather than complexity. However, plans to introduce native smart contracts were announced in September 2024 and are currently progressing.
