XRP Ledger (XRPL) is preparing a major protocol upgrade to increase the use of tokenised assets and institutional finance.

According to blockchain outlet Cryptopolitan on Aug. 1, the XRP Ledger node software xrpld 3.3.0 is due to be released this week. It includes five new functions focused on privacy, payment efficiency and lowering user entry barriers.

The overhaul was unveiled by Reece Cooper (리지 쿠퍼), product head at RippleX. Cooper said XRP Ledger has already shown a foundation for handling tokenised assets at scale and is now expanding support to global remittances, trading, collateral setting and settlement. The new functions will not take effect immediately upon the software release and will activate only after validator approval.

The focus is strengthening tokenisation infrastructure for institutions. First, "Confidential MPT" is designed to hide balances and transaction amounts for multi-purpose tokens from the public, while allowing regulators or auditors to access them when needed. It uses elliptic-curve cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs to reduce information exposure that institutions have been reluctant to accept on public blockchains.

A "batch" function bundles multiple transactions, including those across different accounts, into a single atomic operation. This allows complex settlement flows such as delivery-versus-payment (DvP) to be processed on an all-success or all-failure basis. The aim is to reduce settlement risk and improve processing efficiency for inter-institutional trades and tokenised asset transfers.

It also includes security and operational control features. "Permission delegation" allows an organisation to delegate limited transaction authority in detail without handing over its primary signing key. It is structured so that finance teams or financial institutions can handle routine transactions while maintaining key controls such as an issuing account or a reserve account.

Measures to lower user entry barriers are also included. A "fee and reserve sponsorship" function allows banks, issuers and platforms to cover XRP transaction fees and reserve requirements on behalf of users. New users can use an application without first having to buy XRP to open an account or pay transaction fees. Access rights to wallets and private keys remain intact.

Flexibility in token operations after issuance is also expanded. "Dynamic MPT" allows an issuer to modify certain attributes, such as transfer fees, token metadata and other predefined properties, without creating a new token. For institutions, this increases the means to adjust operating conditions after issuance.

The upgrade comes as competition among blockchains to attract institution-focused tokenisation projects intensifies. Financial firms are seeking infrastructure that can tokenise traditional assets such as government bonds, real estate, stocks and private credit for settlement and cost reductions. XRP Ledger has put features tailored to such demand to the fore in this overhaul.

Whether the changes are ultimately adopted depends on the decentralised governance process. xrpld 3.3.0 first serves only to put amendments up in a vote-ready state. Each amendment must then win support of at least 80 percent from trusted validators for two consecutive weeks to be activated in the XRP Ledger protocol. The structure means network validators, not Ripple, decide whether to adopt new functions. Cooper also asked validator operators to review the amendments.

XRP Ledger also activated the fixCleanup3.2.0 amendment a few days ago. That amendment included bug fixes related to vaults, lending protocols, permissioned domains, multi-purpose tokens and permissioned decentralised exchanges (DEX). At the time, more than 80 percent of validators supported it, showing that network governance was working. As a result, the pace of validator consensus, as well as feature competitiveness, is expected to determine the actual timing of the 3.3.0 upgrade’s adoption.

XRPL has already proven it can support tokenized assets at scale. Now it’s time to put these assets to use: global transfers, trading, collateralizing, and settling. The upcoming release of xrpld 3.3.0 includes five amendments that move XRPL significantly closer to that goal…