XRP is soon moving beyond its own network: Hex Trust will issue wrapped XRP (wXRP) and take custody of it. This new version of XRP, supported at a 1:1 ratio, will work across major blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana.
With this move, one of the top five digital assets by market capitalization will gain access to cross-chain DeFi applications. XRP will now be usable not only within the XRP Ledger but also in much broader on-chain financial transactions.
XRP: Coming to Solana, Ethereum, and Others
According to the official announcement, each wXRP will be fully backed by the native XRP held separately at Hex Trust. The minting and redemption of wXRP will be possible in a regulatory-compliant environment for authorized participants.
wXRP will enter the market with a Total Value Locked (TVL) of over 100 million dollars. This will provide high liquidity and stable price movement from day one. The wrapped asset utilizes LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token standard, thus offering participation across multiple blockchains.
Giorgia Pellizzari, CPO of Hex Trust and Head of Custody, stated: ‘With wXRP, we are increasing the liquidity of XRP in DeFi and cross-chain networks. This allows for broader use between XRP and RLUSD. wXRP and RLUSD users can utilize these two assets in a much wider DeFi ecosystem across supported blockchains, built on a reliable, compliant infrastructure.’
wXRP is enhancing the impact of XRP in the DeFi space. Thus, it is being made available on significant blockchains, starting with Solana, Optimism, Ethereum, and HyperEVM. Hex Trust has announced that different networks will soon be added.
This wrapped token allows participation in activities such as cross-chain swaps and liquidity provision for users and institutions. All of this occurs within a regulated framework.
Since each wXRP is backed by a native XRP of equal value and can be redeemed if desired, users can transition between blockchains without the need for third-party unregulated bridges. This also minimizes counterparty risk.
Markus Infanger, Senior Vice President of RippleX, stated that the demand for XRP's use in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem and among institutions is increasing, and Hex Trust is responding to this need. He also added:
‘This development naturally overlaps with the work we are doing with RLUSD. It provides people with regulated access to DeFi and the ability to manage XRP positions on supported networks,’ he said.
Still, this announcement had no obvious positive effect on the XRP price. According to BeInCrypto Markets data, the altcoin rose by just over 1% in the last 24 hours. This increase is in parallel with the overall market recovery. At the time of writing our news, the price of XRP was at $2.04.
This muted price movement in the market was not limited to the recent developments. XRP also failed to fully benefit from the success of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trading on spot cryptocurrency exchanges or Ripple's global expansion steps.
