Risky Hooks: Multibillion-Dollar Threat for XRPL Users, CTO Warns

According to Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, the introduction of smart contract-like capabilities called Hooks in the XRP Ledger could pose a multibillion-dollar risk for XRP investors and stakeholders. Schwartz expressed concerns that any flaws in Hooks could compromise the integrity of the XRP Ledger and fundamentally alter its core purpose as a payment protocol. However, he did express openness to the potential for XRPL to serve purposes beyond payments, such as smart contracts and tokenization. XRPL Labs, the team behind Hooks, has already launched Xahau, a network utilizing XRPL technology to test the efficacy of Hooks. If successful, Hooks could be incorporated into the XRP Ledger mainnet within the next year or two.