Ripple CTO: What to be Used If XRP Ledger Is Restarted from Scratch

Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz recently explored the idea of modernizing the XRP Ledger’s core components, including the possibility of a modular architecture and a Rust-based implementation.

Despite XRPL’s longstanding performance and reliability, Schwartz did not shy away from identifying architectural inefficiencies. “It’s kind of annoying that you have a monolith that has the consensus engine, the transaction engine, and client queries all monolithically,” he said.

Schwartz, who is one of the architects of the XRPL, explained that the tightly coupled components have made it difficult to implement enhancements or enable interoperability with alternative implementations.

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Moving Toward a More Modular Architecture

One solution under consideration is modularization of the transaction engine, possibly enabling it to run within a virtual machine. That shift could separate the core logic from the client-facing overlay and database components, free to evolve independently.

Rust has emerged as a candidate for such a reimplementation. When asked why the ledger wasn’t already being rebuilt in Rust, Schwartz noted that discussions about doing exactly that are happening. He emphasized that the difficulty lies in untangling the existing architecture, especially the payment engine.

Schwartz explained that parts of the payment engine are difficult to define clearly, which makes rebuilding or re-implementing them challenging. Some behaviors depend on the order of operations in ways that aren’t consistently documented. To address this, he suggested rewriting those components with clearer, more predictable logic and possibly introducing formal definitions to guide future implementations.

A cleaner, more consistent version would make the system easier to maintain and could help future improvements, enhancing XRP’s appeal in the global financial ecosystem.

Proposals Under Review

Ripple is currently reviewing external proposals to undertake parts of this effort, and Schwartz mentioned that decisions are being made about the feasibility and prioritization of such initiatives. He pointed to Aanchal Malhotra, board member and head of research at RippleX, as someone leading aspects of that process.

XRP is already highly appealing to institutions, and upgrading its functionality through a modern programming language like Rust could increase institutional confidence in the asset and potentially raise adoption rates.

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