Anika Begay
The XRP Ledger Foundation is renaming itself the Inclusive Financial Technology Foundation (INFTF). This strategic shift reflects an expanded mission to leverage diverse financial technologies to advance global financial inclusion and effectively ends the legacy entity that was responsible for the management and oversight of the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
XRP Ledger Foundation Disbands
The rebranding was announced via a statement on the newly launched INFTF website, where board member Bharath Chari outlined the rationale behind the change. “In our partnerships with various international entities, it became increasingly apparent that our foundation name was perceived as too narrow, aligning us exclusively with XRP technologies,” Chari said.
This perception, he explained, has potentially limited the foundation’s opportunities to engage with a broader range of technologies and solutions in the fintech space. As part of its expanded scope, INFTF has joined forces with the Organization of Southern Cooperation, a collective of 28 countries focused on enhancing digital infrastructure and financial inclusivity within their regions. This collaboration aims to deploy fintechs that address the unique challenges faced by these countries, leveraging INFTF’s expertise in blockchain and beyond.
The Foundation’s transition includes a strategic realignment of responsibilities traditionally associated with the XRP Ledger. “It is an undeniable fact that XRP and the XRP Ledger are inexorably linked by the name of the native asset. This implies that the community has always expected more from the Foundation than it has been able to deliver,” the announcement explains.
Management of key assets such as the XRP trademark, core code repository, and xrpl.org domain will be redistributed to another entity to ensure the ledger continues to be managed by those directly invested in its success.
“There is now an opportunity for various stakeholders such as the main maintainers of the ledger (Ripple), network participants (validators and node operators), community-led organizations, and even the community itself (e.g. via some sort of DAO as suggested by some quarters) to come together to maintain the things that the Foundation is currently the custodian of,” Chari announced.
Reactions from Ripple
The near-termination of the XRP Ledger Foundation has sparked discussion within the community, prompting responses from high-profile Ripple figures. Monica Long, President of Ripple, addressed community concerns in a response to Jungle Inc., stating, “more details to come, but to clarify for now, discussions with XRPLF, XRPL Labs, XRPL Commons, Ripple, and others are about a new (independent) XRPL Foundation, which is different from the new INFTF organization Bharath mentioned.”
David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO, also highlighted collaborative discussions with various community stakeholders, including XRPL Labs and XRPL Commons. “We are collectively focused on establishing a structured approach to support the ledger and its ecosystem, ensuring it remains a vibrant and valuable part of the broader cryptocurrency economy,” Schwartz commented.
Reactions from the community have been mixed, with considerable interest in how the new foundation will operate independently of Ripple and INFTF. Wrathof Kahneman, a respected voice within the community, expressed support for the reorganization: “I think the XRPLF has been asked to do everything with little support, which is a difficult situation. The relationship with Ripple has seemed awkward. So I think this is a professional way to move forward and have everyone share responsibility for XRPL.”
At press time, XRP was trading at $0.5107.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
