Ripple Recommends Axing Cross-Chain Bridging Amendment

Ripple has recommended that the XRP Ledger community withdraw an amendment aimed at enabling cross-chain bridging, known as XChainBridge (XLS-38). According to Ripple, the technology is no longer needed for its intended use case and has failed to secure sufficient developer demand.

The amendment was designed to provide a native bridging framework for the XRP Ledger, allowing assets to move between the XRPL mainnet and connected sidechains with the help of 'witness servers'. However, Ripple has chosen an alternative solution, partnering with Axelar for the EVM Sidechain. Axelar's network currently supports broad interoperability with more than 50 blockchain networks.

Ripple cannot unilaterally remove XLS-38 since it controls only one validator vote on the XRP Ledger. The company must instead follow the standard amendment process, which requires a community vote to withdraw the feature.