Wietse Wind, founding father of XRP Labs—one in all the leading independent XRP Ledger development firms—has published an open letter to the community and Ripple. Wind is understood for the Xaman wallet (formerly Xumm) and Hooks. The latter represents a wise contract functionality developed by Wind for the XRP Ledger, functioning as layer one custom code that influences the behavior and flow of transactions.

Today’s announcement by Ripple, that they may develop native smart contract functionality for the XRP Ledger as reported by Bitcoinist earlier, has caused an uproar for Wietse Wind. While Wind has been developing Hooks since July 2020, Ripple has consistently maintained that it will not introduce native smart contract functionality. Understandably, this decision has caused significant frustration.

XRP Ledger Ecosystem ‘Hangs In The Balance’

Wind’s letter articulates a mix of disappointment and frustration, exacerbated by what he perceives as a scarcity of transparency and collaboration from Ripple. He describes the extensive journey and substantial efforts undertaken by his team to bring Hooks from a conceptual stage to a totally operational feature, despite facing significant challenges.

He states, “4 years ago, XRPL Labs introduced the vision for Hooks – a groundbreaking L1 smart contract solution for the Ledger mainnet. Despite initial skepticism and limited support, we persevered, transforming this idea right into a fully-fledged, battle-tested implementation.”

Wind expresses his disillusionment with Ripple’s recent pivot, declaring the inconsistency in Ripple’s messaging and strategic alignment. He highlights a selected recent instance that underlines this shift, “The sudden change in opinion and narrative is surprising. Three months ago David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, shared a transparent message at XRP Ledger Apex. The XRP Ledger mainnet was a ‘fixed function ledger’ and smart contracts belonged on other networks, similar to the EVM Sidechain and Xahau.”

Further elaborating on the implications of Ripple’s decision, Wind reflects on the potential redundancy and disrespect for the established work, “We designed and built Hooks, and poured in all our excitement, passion and good faith we’ve got. It will be a shame if we find yourself allowing only Xahau to reap the progressive advantages of our endeavor.”

Wind’s frustration with the style by which he learned of the smart contract pivot by Ripple also comes through clearly in his letter. He notes, “Furthermore, the suggestion of exploring alternative technologies or ‘iterations of Hooks’ without involving the very architects of the unique implementation is each perplexing and concerning. It raises questions on Ripple’s commitment to real community collaboration and respect for the contributions of ecosystem developers.

In his concluding remarks, Wind makes a heartfelt plea for a reevaluation of Ripple’s strategic decisions, emphasizing the necessity for a plan that acknowledges and leverages the contributions of developers like himself who’ve been dedicated to the ledger’s innovation. He asserts, “We now stand at a critical juncture. Ripple faces a transparent selection: embrace and support the prevailing, proven Hooks technology on the mainnet, or pursue a separate path that risks alienating dedicated developers and fracturing the ecosystem.”

Wind concludes with a drastic statement, “The longer term of smart contracts on the XRP Ledger hangs within the balance. Ripple’s next moves will definitively show whether it truly values ecosystem contributions or prefers a more centralized, corporate-driven approach to development.”

At press time, XRP traded at $0.5692.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com