The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is on an incredible path to decentralization. To manage this community, they’ve rolled out with XAO DAO, a next-gen governance engine designed to give the power back to the community. This development couples very nicely with the phenomenal expansion of XRPL’s user base. Beyond just cryptocurrencies, the ledger is opening up to new asset types.

XRPL has seen explosive growth, tripling the number of active wallet addresses from about 40,000 to more than 295,000. This growth showcases the continued adoption and engagement within the XRPL ecosystem. Since then, the ledger has continued to enhance and broaden its capabilities. After adding five fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenized US Treasury instruments to its offerings, it has become more attractive to institutional and retail users alike.

XAO DAO: A New Era of Governance

XAO DAO is designed specifically for the XRPL and intends to change the way XRPL community members engage in decision-making forever. It empowers members to actively participate, vote on proposals, contribute to development, and fund innovative projects within the XRPL ecosystem. Full launch of XAO DAO is expected by late summer, representing a significant step toward XRPL’s advanced governance roadmap.

All governance functions inside XAO DAO will be powered by XRP, the XRPL’s native token. This strategic move reduces friction to participate and removes the signaling or reputational risk sometimes associated with issuing new governance tokens. Through the power of XRP, XAO DAO provides a smooth and safe governance experience for its members.

Expanding Functionality with EVM Compatibility

To further boost its functionality, XRPL is gearing up to release an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible sidechain as early as this year. This addition will significantly enhance XRPL’s decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities. Or maybe it will be the culmination of developers deploying and experimenting with a more diverse array of DeFi primitives on the XRPL network.

The EVM-compatible sidechain is a huge leap forward in XRPL ecosystem’s evolution into sophisticated DeFi. This will enable developers to take advantage of the benefits from both the XRPL and Ethereum ecosystems. To that end, it will inspire creativity and drive cooperation across the blockchain industry.