Evernorth deploys 388 million XRP into DeFi and prepares Nasdaq listing under XRPN, signaling rising institutional adoption.
XRP Ledger has rolled out its eighth Smart Escrow Devnet release, completed two security audits, and introduced major performance upgrades.
At the same time, Deutsche Bank signaled plans to expand Ripple infrastructure use, while Evernorth confirmed large XRP treasury deployment and revealed plans tied to a future Nasdaq listing.
XRP Ledger has advanced its Smart Escrow amendment with the release of version eight on the Devnet. This marks a major milestone before full deployment.
According to developer Mayukha Vadari, the system is now deep in testing and review.
Notably, two independent security audits have already been completed. The audit reports are expected to be made public closer to the final release.
Smart Escrow allows developers to create programmable contracts using WebAssembly.
These contracts execute automatically when specific conditions are met, enabling automated settlements, conditional payments, and advanced financial agreements.
This expands the XRP Ledger’s capability beyond traditional escrow by introducing flexible payment logic directly on-chain.
Several important technical improvements were included in this Devnet release.
Trace functions were adjusted to return zero instead of the output length, improving performance by reducing unnecessary processing.
Developers also added iteration support for Vector256 in nested getter functions, allowing more efficient handling of structured contract data.
Another key change involved replacing int32 usage with buffer-based handling for uint32 functions. This improves accuracy and stability when processing numeric values.
At the same time, certain advanced WebAssembly features, such as SIMD, were disabled to avoid compatibility and security risks during early deployment stages.
The gas framework was also improved to make execution costs more predictable and efficient.
This ensures developers can build applications with reliable performance expectations.
Additionally, the xrpl-wasm-stdlib received major updates as well. NFT support was added, enabling escrow contracts to interact directly with NFTs.
The framework also introduced cleaner Rust-based development patterns, bug fixes, gas optimizations, improved testing, and a new mocking framework.
Tooling upgrades support developers preparing for launch.
Rust developers can use xrpl-wasm-stdlib version 0.8.0, Python developers can access xrpl-py version 4.5.0b0.
Meanwhile, JavaScript developers can use xrpl version 4.6.0-smartescrow.0 and ripple-binary-codec version 2.7.0-smartescrow.0.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has confirmed plans to expand its use of infrastructure connected to Ripple technology. The bank aims to improve cross-border payments, foreign exchange operations, and digital asset custody. Traditional global transfers often take several days due to multiple intermediary banks.
Ripple-based infrastructure around XRP Ledger allows direct transfers, reducing delays and lowering transaction costs. Faster settlement allows institutions to move liquidity instantly across markets.
Blockchain infrastructure also improves transparency. Each transaction is recorded permanently and can be verified immediately, reducing operational risk and improving oversight.
This shift reflects broader efforts by major financial institutions to modernize payment systems using blockchain infrastructure.
In another XRP news, Evernorth CEO Ashish Birla said institutional adoption of XRP is entering a new phase.
He said Evernorth operates as a regulated XRP treasury and holds XRP as a core balance sheet asset.
The firm has already deployed more than 388 million XRP into yield-generating DeFi opportunities on the XRP Ledger.
This capital supports lending, liquidity, and protocol growth while generating returns.
Birla said Evernorth plans to actively support the ecosystem by running validators, helping new protocols develop, and bringing institutional partners onto the network.
He added that regulatory clarity, growing infrastructure, and rising institutional readiness are aligning to support adoption.
According to the update, BankXRP also pointed to plans for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker XRPN expected in the first quarter of 2026.
Notably, this would give traditional investors exposure to a regulated XRP treasury structure through public markets.
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