In terms of the stability of its ecosystem, as well as price swings, the ripple community is preparing for a possible storm. The suspense follows a sharply worded post from Wietse Wind, director of XRPL Labs, which has rocked the XRP Ledger (XRPL) community.
Wietse’s criticism followed Ripple’s recent revelation of plans to immediately incorporate smart contracts directly onto the XRPL mainnet.
Some, especially those who have been working on related projects for years, have been skeptical and worried about this action, which is meant to increase the functionality of the ledger.
XRP Developers Criticize Ripple
In an open letter to the XRP Ledger ecosystem and its players, Wietse expressed his dismay with Ripple’s decision to focus on layer-1 smart contracts. He called the move “shocking” and attacked the lack of contact with engineers who have been nonstop helping different XRPL initiatives.
Wietse emphasized that this change reflects a concept that XRPL Labs supported four years ago with the launch of “Hook,” a smart contract tool meant specifically for the XRPL. Though it was important in the creation of the Xahau Sidechain Network, Hooks got little attention from XRP despite its promise.
Many developers in the community find XRP’s fresh excitement for layer-1 smart contracts to be an unwelcome change of direction. Wietse noted that David Schwartz, the CTO of XRP, said three months ago the Ripple ledger was a “fixed function ledger” more suited for other networks.
This apparent discrepancy in Ripple’s posture is increasingly uncomfortable for XRPL innovators. Viewing this as evidence of the company’s lack of dedication to community participation, Wietse’s letter also attacked XRP for neglecting to interact with the original Hooks technological designers.
He offered XRP two choices: risk alienating the developers who have been essential in creating the XRP Ledger, or completely embrace and promote the current Hooks technology, scaling it for more general use.
“We’ve demonstrated our commitment time and again. Now, it’s Ripple’s turn to show its dedication to the community that has long supported and advanced the XRP Ledger. The ball is firmly in Ripple’s court,” he stated.
