ChainCatcher message, Ripple announced key announcements this week in South Korea and Japan. The Ripple and XRP community is committed to bringing new programmability to the XRPL ecosystem by 2025 through the XRPL EVM sidechain (which is already in progress), including smart contracts, and exploring native functionalities on the XRPL mainnet. Additionally, the metaverse startup Futureverse has partnered with Ripple Custody to securely host its assets. Futureverse has adopted the XRPL NFT standard, using XRP as its gas token on the Root network, and integrated with the XRPL DEX to provide network liquidity.

ChainCatcher message, announced by Ripple-supported XRP Ledger, is set to launch a sidechain called "XRPL EVM sidechain," with Axelar as the exclusive cross-chain protocol. Axelar will enable users to convert XRP into wrapped XRP (eXRP), serving as the native token for gas fees on the sidechain.