Major Upgrade Ahead for XRP Ledger Ethereum Sidechain: What to Expect

Peersyst, a blockchain development startup, has announced an upcoming upgrade to the $XRP Ledger EVM sidechain.

The XRPL EVM is a sidechain for the $XRP Ledger that adds Ethereum-compatible smart contracts. In a recent X post, Peersyst released information about the upcoming XRPL EVM v11, stating that this next upgrade would focus on strengthening the network with increased economic security, safer cross-chain connectivity, enhanced validator management, and additional stack hardening. Peersyst teased a proposal for Testnet as soon as this week, with Mainnet to follow.

The XRPL EVM sidechain went live on Mainnet in June 2025, with the network continually adding new improvements.

As a key part of its multichain expansion, Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin arrived on the XRPL EVM sidechain in June.

Upcoming changes

While many network upgrades focus on introducing new features, Peersyst noted that the XRPL EVM v11 is focused on something equally important: making the network safer, more resilient, and easier to operate.

This release introduces a series of improvements across validator management, cross-chain infrastructure, and internal security processes.

The majority of these changes take place behind the scenes, with little impact on developers or end users, yet they all contribute to the network's long-term security and resilience.

The v11 upgrade is a security-first release for the XRPL EVM sidechain that prioritizes economic security, reduces the attack surface, and hardens the validator and IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication) layers.

XRPL EVM uses a Proof-of-Authority consensus model, where validator set changes are gated by a designated authority rather than open staking. v11 makes two changes: the standard validator-creation path is now blocked after launch, so no one can join the validator set outside the authority. Validators can now remove themselves voluntarily, instead of relying on the authority to remove them.

The XRPL EVM runs a recurring, AI-assisted security audit, and v11 is the first release to benefit from it end to end.