Coreum Founder Says XRPL at Risk of Replacement, Urges Ripple to be Impartial in Funding

Bob Ras, the Co-Founder of Coreum and Sologenic, has argued that the XRP Leger is at risk of replacement amid Ripple’s alleged selective funding of projects building on XRPL.

Ras recently voiced this sentiment in a series of posts on X. Notably, he issued a compelling call to action directed at Ripple, its development team RippleX, and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Ras emphasized that his message is not to propagate fear, uncertainty, or doubt (FUD) about XRPL. Instead, it stands as a clarion call to awaken XRPL believers to the platform’s current challenges.

(1/10)🧵Unleashing XRPL's Potential!
Calling all #XRPL believers! @Ripple, @RippleXDev, @bgarlinghouse – This isn't FUD, it's a wake-up call. As a founding member of an early XRPL project, I'm deeply concerned about recent events. Let's break it down.

— Bob Ras (@bobrasX) March 25, 2024

Sologenic’s Contributions to XRPL

First, Ras drew from his firsthand experience as a founding member of an early XRPL project, Sologenic. He asserted that before Sologenic, the XRPL decentralized exchange lacked usage.

However, according to Ras, announcing their intention to build on XRPL illuminated the network’s potential. Ras reminisced that the development prompted more projects to recognize the feasibility of building on XRPL despite its limitations.

Thereafter, his team went on to develop Sologenic into an enterprise-grade tokenization solution on XRPL. Their efforts included an exhaustive 18-month pursuit of regulatory approval for a broker-dealer license.

However, the landscape shifted dramatically when the SEC lawsuit against Ripple emerged, “shattering regulatory confidence in the entire XRPL ecosystem.”

Coreum’s Contributions to XRPL

Amid this development, Ras noted that his team pivoted towards developing Coreum, a blockchain featuring smart contracts and interoperability with other networks. 

He pointed out that Coreum’s utility addressed the deficiencies of XRPL and empowered developers to explore innovative use cases with newfound functionalities.

Last week, Ras’s team unveiled a decentralized, open-source bridge between XRPL and Coreum. The development facilitates seamless transfer of XRPL assets to Coreum while enabling connectivity to Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) chains.

With this bridge in place, developers gain access to smart token technology. In parallel, it unlocks many innovative use cases for all XRPL assets that extend beyond just XRP and Sologenic’s native token, SOLO. 

Moreover, retail users can earn rewards by participating in automated market maker (AMM) pools on Coreum and other IBC chains. 

XRPL At Risk with Ripple’s Selective Funding

However, Ras raised concerns regarding the RippleX team’s recent endorsement of misinformation regarding another chain’s bridge being the first to implement IBC. He asserted that such actions are misleading and detrimental to the collective efforts of the entire XRPL developer community.

Based on this premise, Ras claimed Ripple shows partiality in supporting XRPL projects. He emphasized that it is in Ripple’s best interest to advocate for all innovative projects developing use cases for XRPL rather than exclusively supporting initiatives associated with ex-employees. He cited examples of a $100 million allocation to the XRPL project Coil.

Furthermore, Ras stressed that without embracing innovation and overcoming its limitations, XRPL faces the same fate as the outdated phone companies replaced by the iPhone due to their failure to innovate.

“To truly care about XRPL, Ripple needs to stop selective funding and support ALL developers building the future,” Ras Lamented.

(8/10) Remember how the iPhone replaced outdated phones? XRPL risks the same fate without embracing innovation. To truly care about XRPL, Ripple needs to stop selective funding and support ALL developers building the future!

— Bob Ras (@bobrasX) March 25, 2024

He added that the XRP community has patiently waited for Ripple’s disruption of cross-border payments and replacement of SWIFT. However, Ras urged Ripple that, if the vision remains distant, it should instead support all builders contributing value to XRPL to foster ecosystem growth like other successful Layer 1 networks. 

Ultimately, he emphasized that his message is not an attack but a call to action to unlock XRPL’s potential as an innovative ecosystem. Ras reiterated the shared desire for XRPL’s success among its community.

Notably, this argument of Ripple not supporting some projects pushing solutions around XRP has persisted for a while. It recently reemerged amid the pioneer NFT project of XRPL announcing its migration to Solana due to a “lack of support.”