Blockbeat Publisher Kaitlin weighs in about events in the web3 space.
I had the pleasure of spending a few days with the “XRP Army” in Amsterdam during XRP Ledger Apex 2024 a few weeks back. As the largest annual summit on the XRPL calendar, the event united developers, businesses, fintechs, VCs and the wider Ripple community. With over 700 people in attendance, the enthusiasm and loyalty runs deep, as I discovered when chatting with participants from all over the world. For those not in the know, “Ripple operates in the financial technology industry, providing blockchain and cryptocurrency cross-border payment, crypto liquidity, and central bank digital currency services. Its platforms use the XRP Ledger and its native token, XRP, in its services.” (Investopedia).
Read on for my top 3 moments from the event-
David Schwartz’s Visionary Keynote:
The highlight of Apex 2024 was undoubtedly the opening address given by David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple and Co-Creator of the XRP Ledger. Attendees I spoke with confided in me that this was the talk everyone had been waiting for, and it was definitely a full house at 9:30am on day two. Schwartz shared his vision for the future of the XRP Ledger, focusing on scaleability, interoperability, and sustainability, stating, “Interoperability… extremely extremely important. If we want to be compelling, we have to be seamless. If we want mass adoption, users need a better experience.”
Also of note, Ripple’s ecosystem is MUCH larger than I initially realised. During his talk Schwartz presented a slide illustrating the many contributors building tools and infrastructure including wallets/custody (ex: Ledger, Uphold), tools/analytics, gaming/metaverse, marketplaces/RWA (real world assets), interoperability/education, and payments/stablecoins. In total, there were over 75 projects.
Schwartz’s speech set the tone for the event, emphasising the importance of continuous improvement and collaboration within the community.
Ripple Announces Collaboration with Archax:
One of the most significant announcements at the event was Ripple’s collaboration with Archax, the UK’s first Financial Conduct Authority regulated digital asset exchange, broker and custodian.
This extension to their existing collaboration is expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of tokenised real world assets (RWA) onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL) over the coming year and establish the XRPL as one of the leading blockchains for RWA tokenisation. Archax works with leading financial institutions enabling them to tokenize their financial RWAs. As a result of this collaboration, financial institutions will be able to select the XRPL to tokenise their RWAs, creating opportunities for numerous downstream use cases for these assets.
“We have hit the tipping point for mainstream adoption of digital assets for real world use cases,” said Graham Rodford, CEO, Archax. “Financial institutions are now understanding this and we are excited to play our part in helping them to embrace the technology by bringing their assets onto the XRPL.”
Ripple Addresses Questions from Web3 Purists:
As someone who is a bit sceptical of any crypto company so willingly embracing institutions and intermediaries, I had some questions. Their eagerness to comply is something that some web3 purists and ‘degens’ have argued goes against the founding principles of crypto; reminder that Bitcoin was created to intentionally leave out the intermediaries! But Markus Infanger, SVP, RippleX, was refreshingly candid in his reply, stating “With us it’s been always a stance of compliance first, we want to play by the book… More regulation isn’t the answer to everything, but… we want to build solutions that work today, that means being compatible with regulatory frameworks.”
This reconciliation of stakeholders vs regulators was detailed further with David Schwartz adding, “It’s something that I think about a lot. I think these technologies are inherently liberating… the factor to keep in mind is, as long as people are able to access alternatives – as long as (some) people are able to choose the decentralised/open options then other people will pick the less consistent-with-ethos options. I feel crazy in the name of freedom to tell people they have to have the option that’s worse for (them).”
I loved this reply because as adoption continues apace, the ability to make choices based on personal preference, experience, and accessibility will make the difference between a thriving, inclusive ecosystem and a narrow, ideologically rigid one. The future of web3 isn’t about forcing one path for everyone but about creating a diverse array of options where people can choose what works best for them.
Ultimately, the XRP Ledger Apex 2024 event showcased Ripple’s forward-thinking approach and its dedication to driving innovation. With exciting announcements and candid discussions, Ripple continues to lead the charge in integrating blockchain with the broader financial ecosystem. I may not have joined the Army just yet, but I’m certainly paying closer attention.