Ripple’s Game-Changer: New Standard Set to Revolutionize XRP Ledger Tokens in 2025

Ripple just dropped a bombshell—and the XRP Ledger will never be the same.

The blockchain giant is pushing a radical new token standard that could finally turn XRP into the DeFi powerhouse its fans have been screaming about for years. No more 'digital bridge asset' excuses—this is a full-throttle infrastructure upgrade.

Why This Isn't Just Another Protocol Update

Unlike those 'innovation' press releases from legacy banks (looking at you, JPM Coin), Ripple's move actually bypasses existing limitations. The new standard enables native smart contract functionality—something Ethereum maximalists claimed would 'never happen' on XRPL.

The Fine Print Wall Street Will Ignore

Early docs suggest the upgrade cuts settlement times by 40% while maintaining XRP's trademark $0.0001 transaction fees. Of course, institutional investors will still pretend they 'discovered' this tech in 2026 after paying some consultant $500K for the insight.

One thing's certain: if this delivers, even Bitcoin maximalists might stop calling XRP 'the banker's crypto.' Maybe.

Ripple Pushes Upgrade For Make Multi-Purpose Tokens

PTs were introduced last year via XLS‑82d, which let issuers replace the familiar currency and issuer pair with a cryptographic mpt_issuance_id, opening the door to tokens whose meaning is defined entirely by an embedded JSON blob. That design choice gave builders unprecedented latitude—for example, to mint wrapped assets, gaming points or real‑world‑asset receipts—yet it also broke many UX assumptions. Without a fixed currency code, wallets and block explorers struggle to display tokens consistently, and search engines cannot tell one issuance from another.

RippleX’s own description is blunt: MPTs “lack structured fields like a currency code. Instead, they rely on a free‑form metadata field, which makes them harder to identify or display in UIs.”

The proposal, authored by Ripple engineers Shawn Xie, Greg Tsipenyuk, Shashwat Mittal, Julian Berridi and Dennis Dawson, lays out a “minimally standardized” JSON schema: “This document proposes a minimally standardized metadata format for MPTs… The goal is not to restrict expressiveness, but to define a baseline set of fields that support reliable parsing and integration across services like block explorers, indexers, wallets, and cross‑chain applications.”

Under the draft, every token would carry required keys—currency, name, asset_class—and optional ones such as desc, icon, acct_name and an array of weblinks. A 1024‑byte limit keeps the payload on‑ledger, while an external URI can point to richer off‑chain data. The spec also classifies assets by purpose (rwa, defi, gaming, memes, wrapped, other) and, when applicable, by subclass (stablecoin, commodity, equity, etc.), giving explorers a taxonomy for side‑by‑side ranking with traditional IOUs.

Adherence will be voluntary, but RippleX plans to use soft pressure: “SDKs (xrpl.js, xrpl‑py, xrpl4j) will display a warning if metadata is missing, so developers know their tokens may be harder to discover or integrate. Nothing will be blocked.”

In another tweet, the team underscored the payoff for early adopters: with the schema in place, “MPTs [become] searchable by ticker… rankable alongside IOUs… usable in explorers, DEX UIs, [and] wallets… [and] easier to parse.

”For token issuers, the proposal promises a clear path to visibility without forfeiting flexibility: the on‑ledger stub ensures a base level of trust and immutability, while richer data can live off‑chain and be updated if branding or compliance needs change. Wallet vendors, in turn, gain a predictable way to surface icons, tickers and risk labels; DEX interfaces can filter or sort order books by asset class; and indexers can rank MPTs against IOUs in liquidity tables or price feeds.

For now, XLS‑0089d is currently a draft in the XRPL‑Standards repository, open for public comment. Once feedback is incorporated, the amendment needs to pass the 80% threshold to be activated. Given the Ledger’s built‑in amendment process, no hard fork is required.

At press time, XRP traded at $3.1497.