XRP Ledger Surges as EVM Sidechain Hits 1,400 Smart Contracts – Here’s Why It Matters

Ripple's XRP Ledger just hit a major milestone—its Ethereum-compatible sidechain now hosts 1,400 live smart contracts. Forget 'sleeping giant'—this network's wide awake.

Why Traders Should Care

That EVM sidechain adoption? Up 300% since Q1. Developers are voting with their keyboards, deploying everything from DeFi pools to NFT mints while Wall Street still debates whether crypto is 'real.'

The Bigger Picture

XRP's playing 4D chess—bridging institutional payments with decentralized apps. Meanwhile, legacy finance CEOs are still trying to disable the 'auto-capitalize' feature in Excel.

What's Next?

Watch for liquidity migrations as arbitrageurs chase the action. Just don't expect your bank's 'innovation lab' to notice before 2026.

TLDR

• The XRP Ledger EVM sidechain officially launched on June 30 and recorded strong developer activity in its first week.
• Developers deployed 1,400 smart contracts and completed 17,938 transactions within seven days of launch.
• The sidechain supports full Ethereum compatibility and allows Solidity-based applications to run on the XRP Ledger.
• A total of 1.115 million blocks were produced and 1,606 XRP transfers were processed during the launch week.
• Peersyst Technology confirmed that 65 smart contracts were verified and 128 new tokens were issued.

The XRP Ledger ecosystem expanded its capabilities with the official launch of its EVM-compatible sidechain on June 30. Within one week, developers deployed 1,400 smart contracts and recorded over 17,900 transactions. The rollout also included 1,606 XRP transfers, 128 new tokens, and 65 verified smart contracts.

This sidechain brings full ethereum compatibility to the XRP Ledger, offering lower fees and faster settlement times. Developers can now use Solidity to migrate dApps from Ethereum. The growing activity highlights strong demand for smart contracts within the XRP Ledger environment.

🔥JUST IN: The XRP Ledger (XRPL) EVM Sidechain officially launched on mainnet on June 30. $XRP @Ripple

📈Deployment Surge: In its first week, nearly 1,400 smart contracts were deployed on the new sidechain

💰The Reason: Developer Demand: The launch unlocked the ability for… pic.twitter.com/JPrcklikwA

— PaulBarron (@paulbarron) July 7, 2025

Peersyst Technology developed the sidechain and confirmed that 1.115 million blocks were generated during the first week. This technical achievement underscores both scalability and performance under early network usage. Independent validation from 25 companies further reinforces institutional interest in the XRP Ledger.

XRP Ledger Sidechain Boosts Developer Adoption

The sidechain’s compatibility with Ethereum enables faster onboarding for decentralized application developers. This bridge allows projects to access the speed of the XRP Ledger while using familiar Solidity code. As a result, deployment barriers for Ethereum-based applications have significantly reduced.

The increase in contract deployments reflects immediate interest from the developer community. Applications spanning DeFi, gaming, and NFTs are beginning to test the XRP Ledger sidechain. Additionally, verified contracts add credibility and security to early deployments.

Lower transaction costs and high throughput make the sidechain suitable for projects needing efficiency. These features provide a competitive edge in the broader blockchain space. The XRP Ledger now becomes more attractive to developers seeking scalable infrastructure with multichain access.

Interoperability Grows with Axelar and Wormhole

Axelar Network is facilitating over $100 million in daily cross-chain volume into the XRP Ledger ecosystem. This inflow suggests increasing liquidity and user engagement post-sidechain launch. Axelar helps connect XRPL with multiple blockchain platforms.

On June 26, RippleX announced integration with Wormhole, enabling further interoperability. This protocol supports over 35 blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana. It allows seamless asset and message transfers between XRPL and other chains.

Wormhole connects both the XRP Ledger mainnet and EVM sidechain, expanding cross-chain capabilities. The integration allows XRP, IOUs, and Multi-Purpose Tokens to MOVE across networks. Over 200 applications have used Wormhole, which has processed $60 billion since 2020.