Ripple CTO Says XRP Ledger Has No Smart Contract Functionality, XRP Drops 3%

• Ripple CTO David Schwartz responds to a user query on X and says that the XRP Ledger does not yet have smart contract functionality.
• Ripple plans to launch smart contracts on the Ledger mainnet by 2025, according to a press release.
• XRP is erasing 3% on Wednesday, trading at $0.5260 at the time of writing.

Ripple (XRP) plans to introduce smart contract functionality to its native blockchain, the XRP Ledger. However, since September 11th, the firm has not announced a date for its launch on the main network.

XRP was trading at $0.5260, down 3% on Wednesday.

Daily market reasons: Ripple does not have smart contracts on the XRP Ledger

• Ripple CTO David Schwartz answered a question from a cryptocurrency trader on X. When asked what smart contracts are being launched on the XRP Ledger mainnet, Schwartz said there are none yet. The CTO said that “today the XRP Ledger is a fixed-function ledger.”

• The remittance firm has previously shared plans to introduce smart contract functionality on the mainnet through utility features such as hooks. A Ripple press release notes that 2025 is the likely timeline for the feature’s launch.
• This would mark a key milestone as it would enhance the functionality of the Ledger and likely drive demand for the native XRP token.

Technical Analysis: XRP Could Extend Loss 5%

Ripple is in a downtrend that started after the July 12, 2023 peak of $0.9380. The altcoin is in a downtrend and fell to a low of $0.3832 on July 5, 2024. Since then, the altcoin price has recovered somewhat and XRP is trading at $0.5293 at the time of writing article.

XRP could suffer a 5% drop and sweep liquidity to $0.5026, the lowest since September 6 for the altcoin. This marks a key support level for the altcoin, which has been respected for more than 30 days since August 8.

The MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) indicator shows red histogram bars below the neutral line. The XRP price trend has an underlying negative momentum, supporting the bearish thesis.

XRP/USDT Daily Chart

A daily candle close above the upper bound of the fair value gap (FVG) at $0.5785 could invalidate the bearish thesis. XRP could move to the psychologically important $0.6000 level once FVG is filled.