Ripple Developers: How to Become an XRP Dev

With the bulk of XRP ’s long-standing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the rearview mirror, Ripple developers can turn their undivided attention to the growth of the blockchain itself.

Despite its high position in the crypto market, the XRP Ledger doesn’t actually support a great range of applications. Its DeFi and NFT scene is remarkably small, especially compared to Layer 1 blockchains like Ethereum (ETH) or Cardano (ADA) .

Is the XRP Ledger a good environment for blockchain development? Where can Ripple developers learn more about the platform and begin positively contributing to the network?

Table of Contents

• Benefits of the XRP Ledger
  • Why Has Nothing Been Built on Ripple’s XRP Ledger?
• Becoming a Ripple Developer
• Where to Find Ripple Developer Resources?
  • The Ripple Developer Community
  • Ripple Developer Events
• Key Ripple Developers
  • David Schwartz
  • Jed McCaleb
• On the Flipside
• Why This Matters
• FAQs

Benefits of the XRP Ledger

The XRP Ledger is the underlying technology behind Ripple’s revolutionary cross-border payments network. Capable of streamlining international transactions and facilitating the improved flow of funds across the planet, the XRP Ledger has proven popular amongst financial institutions like Santander Bank.

Unlike its predecessor, Bitcoin (BTC) , the XRP Ledger boasts a highly scalable network. Estimated to be 61,000 times more energy efficient than the original Proof-of-Work blockchain, the XRP Ledger can process up to 3,400 transactions per second.

Source: Ripple

Better yet, every XRPL transaction requires an average fee of only $0.0002, improving it considerably over the existing methods we see in traditional cross-border payments.

On paper, these metrics give us a fast blockchain network that is energy-efficient and affordable to use. While this should mean that the XRP Ledger already has a thriving ecosystem of applications, this is far from the reality.

Why Has Nothing Been Built on Ripple’s XRP Ledger?

Compared with alternative networks, the XRP Ledger is void of activity. Users can send and receive XRP tokens within seconds at a minimal fee, but the network lacks the vast range of products and services that we would expect from other blockchains.

However, this all might be about to change. One of the biggest obstacles to developer adoption on the XRPL is that the network doesn’t support smart contract development. This dramatically reduces its potential use cases.

– "XRPL centralised" (not)
– "No token issuing/DEX" (false, there since forever)
– Uncertainty with the SEC suit against Ripple (mostly irrelevant)
– No smart contracts (tech is now there)

So most of all: lack of knowledge about what the XRPL really is.

I've talked to soooo…

— WietseWind (　　Disclaimer: Includes third-party opinions. No financial advice. See Risk Warning.