Ripple Gains Momentum as New Smart Contract Update Boosts Developer Interest

Ripple’s native token, XRP, saw a modest price uptick on July 15, 2025, following the rollout of a long-anticipated update aimed at enhancing smart contract capabilities on the XRP Ledger. The upgrade, dubbed “XLS-40,” is designed to make the platform more developer-friendly by simplifying how smart contracts are created, deployed, and executed—bringing Ripple a step closer to competing directly with Ethereum and Solana in the decentralized application (dApp) space.

Although XRP’s price gain was modest—climbing just under 3% to $0.64—the sentiment among developers and investors has become noticeably more optimistic. Ripple has been aggressively pushing to expand its presence in decentralized finance (DeFi), and this update is seen as a pivotal move to achieve that. The new tools allow for more customizable scripting and better interoperability between smart contracts, making the network more flexible and appealing for developers building real-world financial applications.

Several developers who previously hesitated to build on Ripple due to its limited programmability are now showing renewed interest. Within hours of the update’s activation, early demonstrations of decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and NFT marketplaces began to emerge on testnets. This growing buzz could potentially lead to a surge in network activity in the coming weeks if adoption accelerates.

In addition to the technical improvements, Ripple Labs has announced an ecosystem grant program offering up to $30 million in funding for startups building on the enhanced XRP Ledger. This move mirrors strategies used by other Layer-1 networks to bootstrap activity, such as Avalanche’s Rush and Solana’s Developer Fund. The funding will be distributed across multiple rounds and will target projects focused on real-world asset tokenization, payments, and decentralized identity.

The market reaction has been cautiously positive, with analysts calling this a “long-overdue” pivot by Ripple. They note that while XRP has remained popular for cross-border payments, its lack of smart contract capability has held it back from broader Web3 relevance. This upgrade, if properly supported, could change the narrative and bring XRP back into the conversation as a programmable asset, not just a payment token.

However, skepticism remains among some traders who argue that Ripple still has regulatory overhang in the United States. While the company recently scored partial victories in its legal battle with the SEC, uncertainty about XRP’s full legal status still weighs on sentiment. Nonetheless, with smart contract support now live and new developers entering the ecosystem, Ripple seems determined to make up for lost time and stake a claim in the next wave of blockchain innovation.