Quick answer: The XRP Ledger (XRPL) was not designed for general smart contracts, so it is adding programmability through four separate tracks: protocol amendments, Hooks, a proposed native contract design (XLS-101), and an Ethereum-compatible sidechain. Only one of those, the XRPL EVM sidechain, is fully live on its own mainnet today; the others are either governance-level features, live on a related network, or still in draft.
Part of our guide: XRP Explained.
Updated 07/17/2026. By Jake Claver. Educational content, not investment advice.
Most blockchains that support smart contracts, such as Ethereum, were built around a virtual machine from day one. The XRP Ledger took a different route. It shipped with a fixed set of native features (payments, escrow, a decentralized exchange, and later automated market makers) rather than a general-purpose contract engine. That kept it fast and cheap, but it left developers without a way to write custom on-ledger logic.
Ripple and the wider XRPL developer community are closing that gap through several parallel efforts rather than one single model. Ripple lays out this multi-track strategy in its own programmability overview. Below is what each track actually does, and, just as important, what is running versus what is still on paper.
1. Amendments: changing the protocol itself
Amendments are the XRP Ledger’s built-in way to change its own rules. They are not smart contracts you deploy; they are network-wide upgrades that add new native features or transaction types to the base protocol. New capabilities like escrow, checks, and automated market makers all arrived this way.
The process is deliberately conservative. According to the XRPL documentation on known amendments, an amendment must hold a supermajority of trusted validators for at least two weeks before it activates on Mainnet, and a related fix keeps that threshold at no less than 80% of trusted validators. Because every user is affected, this path is slow by design and reserved for features that belong in the core ledger. It gives XRPL new building blocks, but it does not let an individual developer write their own custom logic.
2. Hooks: small on-account logic (live on Xahau)
Hooks are small pieces of code attached directly to an account that run when that account sends or receives a transaction. They can reject a payment below a set amount, forward funds automatically, or enforce a savings rule, all evaluated before a transaction is finalized. Per the Hooks documentation, they are compact WebAssembly modules installed and triggered through dedicated transaction types.
Here is the nuance that matters, and that a lot of coverage gets wrong: Hooks are live today on Xahau, a separate Layer-1 network built from XRPL’s codebase, not on the XRP Ledger Mainnet itself. Xahau acts as a proving ground so the community can evaluate how Hooks behave in production before deciding whether to bring them, or something like them, to the main chain. So Hooks are real and usable, but on a sibling network rather than XRPL Mainnet.
3. Native mainnet smart contracts (XLS-101, still a draft)
The third track is a formal proposal to add general smart contracts directly to the XRP Ledger’s Layer 1. It is written up as standard XLS-0101, an L1-native smart contract design that draws on both Xahau’s Hooks and the EVM. The goal is contracts that are permissionless to deploy (no amendment needed for each one) while preserving XRPL traits like human-readable transactions and low resource use.
Status check: XLS-0101 is explicitly marked as a Draft, described by its own authors as an early document with open questions still to resolve. It represents where native XRPL programmability is heading, but it is not something you can build on today.
4. The XRPL EVM sidechain (live on mainnet)
The fourth path is the one that is fully in production. The XRPL EVM sidechain launched on its own mainnet on June 30, 2025. It is an independent chain that runs a full Ethereum Virtual Machine, so developers can deploy standard Solidity contracts using familiar tools like Hardhat and OpenZeppelin, with XRP as the native gas token.
Because it is a sidechain, it keeps this heavier smart-contract workload off the core ledger. XRPL’s own sidechains documentation describes a sidechain as an independent ledger with its own validators and rules. Value moves between the two chains through an interoperability bridge (built on Axelar), letting users transfer XRP to the EVM chain and back. The tradeoff is that these contracts run on a separate network secured by its own validator set, not on XRPL Mainnet directly.
Why this matters
The practical takeaway is that “XRP Ledger smart contracts” is not one thing, and the honest answer to “can I use them today?” depends on which track you mean. If you want EVM-style contracts right now, the EVM sidechain is live. If you want small account-level logic, Hooks are usable on Xahau. Native contracts on XRPL Mainnet itself are still a draft. Amendments, meanwhile, keep expanding what the base ledger can do natively.
This spread-the-bets approach lets XRPL serve different needs (institutional payments on the lean core, DeFi tooling on the EVM chain) without forcing a single design onto everyone. It also means anyone evaluating the ecosystem should check what is actually shipped rather than assuming a roadmap item is already running. You can follow the base protocol at xrpl.org and Ripple’s own updates at ripple.com.
Common questions
Does the XRP Ledger have smart contracts?
Yes, but through more than one path. The XRPL EVM sidechain is live on its own mainnet and runs standard Ethereum-style contracts. Hooks (small account-level logic) are live on the related Xahau network. A native smart contract standard for XRPL Mainnet itself, XLS-0101, is still in draft.
Are Hooks live on the XRP Ledger mainnet?
Not yet. Hooks are live on Xahau, a separate Layer-1 network built from XRPL’s codebase, which serves as a testing ground. The community is using that experience to decide whether to bring similar functionality to XRPL Mainnet.
What is the XRPL EVM sidechain?
It is an independent, Ethereum-compatible chain that launched on mainnet on June 30, 2025. Developers deploy normal Solidity smart contracts with tools like Hardhat, using XRP as the gas token, while a bridge moves XRP between it and the XRP Ledger.
How does an amendment become active on the XRP Ledger?
An amendment must hold a supermajority of trusted validators (kept at no less than 80%) for at least two weeks before it activates on Mainnet. Amendments change the core protocol for everyone rather than letting one developer deploy custom logic.
What is XLS-101 (XLS-0101)?
It is a proposed standard for native, permissionless smart contracts on the XRP Ledger’s Layer 1, drawing on both Hooks and the EVM. As of now it is an early draft with open questions, not a shipped feature.
This content is educational only. It is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
