Ripple Intends to Attract More Developers Through an Ethereum Sidechain, Announces Chief Technology Officer
In the world of blockchain, the number of active developers plays a crucial role in shaping the strength and diversity of a platform's decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem and application landscape. As of mid-2025, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has around 168 active developers, significantly fewer than Ethereum's approximately 8,500 developers and Solana's about 4,000 developers.
However, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), David Schwartz, sees the launch of an XRP Ledger Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain as a strategic step to attract Solidity developers and foster ecosystem growth. This move is part of Ripple's ongoing efforts to encourage adoption of the XRPL EVM Sidechain through grants, community funding, and institutional adoption.
The XRPL EVM Sidechain, which debuted in June, supports smart contracts and allows for the creation of applications similar to Ethereum. Assets worth $94,000 are currently being used in DeFi applications on the XRPL EVM Sidechain, according to crypto data provider DefiLlama. The most popular application on the XRPL EVM Sidechain is Moai Finance, with $54 in trading volume over the past day.
Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick has set a year-end price target of $5.50 for XRP, citing its position in cross-border and cross-currency payments. Kendrick's optimistic outlook for XRP's future value reflects the potential of the XRPL EVM Sidechain to unlock new possibilities for apps in lending, tokenization, and leveraging XRPL's deep liquidity.
Schwartz, who has indicated that the XRPL EVM Sidechain could attract fresh talent to the XRPL Ledger ecosystem, acknowledged that the XRP Ledger has not been as successful in attracting developers. He expressed a desire to attract more, partly due to the lack of programmability at layer-1. Despite the XRPL EVM Sidechain having a quiet start, Schwartz believes that it could lead to more experimentation within the XRPL Ledger's ecosystem.
In comparison, Ethereum and Solana currently have stronger DeFi ecosystems and application diversity due to their larger developer communities. However, the XRPL EVM Sidechain could bridge this gap by bringing Ethereum developers and tools to the XRP Ledger's fast transaction capabilities.
In conclusion, the XRPL EVM Sidechain represents a strategic move by Ripple to boost ecosystem growth and attract Solidity developers. As the XRPL EVM Sidechain continues to evolve, it could potentially close the gap between the XRPL Ledger and other leading blockchain platforms in terms of developer activity and application diversity.
| Blockchain Platform | Approximate Number of Active Developers (2025) | |---------------------|-----------------------------------------------| | Ethereum | 8,500 | | Solana | 4,000 | | XRP Ledger | 168 |
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