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The XRP Ledger (XRPL) Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain has welcomed a new release. The v4.0.0 Chain Upgrade, a major release includes important changes, features and improvements for the launch of the XRPL EVM network.

The v4.0.0 release brings significant features to the XRPL EVM network, such as minting and burning capabilities for managing the native XRP token through the axelar bridge. Support for minting and burning has been enabled using x/erc20 precompiles, allowing greater flexibility in token management.

Likewise, the v4.0.0 release brings on upgraded dependencies. The Cosmos SDK has been bumped to v0.50.9 for enhanced performance and stability, while Evmos has been upgraded to v20, bringing the latest improvements from the Evmos ecosystem.

The XRPL EVM Sidechain, created in collaboration with Peersyst and nearing live deployment on the devnet, is helping to further smart contract capabilities in the XRP Ledger ecosystem. This momentum is expected to pick up in early 2025, when the XRP Ledger programmability is expected to be significantly enhanced.

XRPL EVM sidechain expected to go live in months

Programmability on the XRP Ledger is expected to improve in the days ahead through the launch of native smart contract capabilities on the XRP Ledger mainnet, which is currently in the research phase, as well as the introduction of the XRPL EVM Sidechain, which is expected to launch in the coming months.

The XRPL EVM sidechain is expected to provide Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility to the XRP community, allowing developers to use familiar tools and programming languages.

A crucial aspect of the XRPL EVM Sidechain is its ability to use Axelar as a bridge, allowing for transactions between the XRPL EVM Sidechain, XRP Ledger and over 55 additional blockchains. This configuration would enable dApps to use both XRP Ledger capabilities and EVM smart contracts simultaneously. Wrapped XRP (eXRP) will be the native asset and gas token for cross-chain transactions.

The latest v4.0.0 upgrade remains a fundamental and essential step toward the launch of the XRPL EVM network.