Ripple is partnering with the Axelar Foundation to add interoperability to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) blockchain, targeting the next stage of growth for the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs).
The partnership will enable developers to use Axelar’s General Message Passing (GMP) to execute calls on smart contracts residing on over 55 blockchains, facilitating the cross-chain deployment of decentralized applications on the XRPL — Ripple’s open-source public blockchain.
Benefits of the integration include unlocking liquidity for stablecoins and large-cap assets, according to the companies.
“Real world asset tokenization will be the driving force of the blockchain economy with real estate, commodities and treasuries and bonds being the leading use cases,” David Schwartz, chief technology officer of Ripple and co-creator of the XRPL, told Cointelegraph. Schwartz foresees traditional lending platforms increasingly using tokenized RWAs for collateralized loans.
The XRPL has been around for over a decade. According to a recent report from Messari, the network registered an 8.8% growth in daily activity volume in 2023, driven by numerous types of transactions, including a 73.7% growth in nonfungible tokens activity.
Axelar, on the other hand, is a Canada-based startup offering an overlay of communication between blockchains, allowing networks to share data without intermediaries or centralized parties. The company was founded in 2020 by inaugural team members at Algorand and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates.
“Axelar’s integration will help broaden blockchain adoption by facilitating RWA,” believes Schwartz.
Tokenization is the process of converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain. These tokens can represent real-world assets like real estate, art or shares in a company, making them easier to buy, sell and trade.
Investment bank Citi predicts that RWA tokenization could become the next “killer use case” in crypto, estimating the market to reach between $4 trillion and $5 trillion by 2030. This growth is expected to be driven primarily by the tokenization of private equity, real estate and debt markets, with private equity likely becoming the most tokenized asset class due to its favorable properties for liquidity and fractionalization.
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