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Ripple’s XRP has debuted on Solana with the wXRP ticker, and Ripple’s CTO says further cross-border adoption could come, but at a slower pace. David “JoelKatz” Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, said he has been running test code across multiple blockchains to evaluate potential DeFi bridging systems.
In discussing cross-chain opportunities for Ripple’s USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, Schwartz said security risks would be less of a concern if companies selected the strongest security and risk management suite available. He also suggested that simplicity is often pitched as the superior value proposition over premium security.
Schwartz said he reviewed many DeFi bridging systems with a focus on security and risk. He pointed to the design of some schemes, saying they include mechanisms intended to protect against the type of attack associated with the KelpDAO/rsETH incident.
“I evaluated a lot of DeFi bridging systems for use by RLUSD. I was almost exclusively focused on the security and risk aspect. One thing I noticed is that most schemes were very well designed and had really strong mechanisms available to protect against exactly the type of attack the KelpDAO/rsETH situation seems to have been caused by…”
— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz), April 20, 2026
Ripple’s CTO also indicated that the core problem in such cases may be “convenience”—using a cheaper security and risk management alternative that is promoted to executives as the “best value” option.
Schwartz’s comments come in the context of the recent $292 million KelpDAO hack, which he said shook confidence across DeFi protocols. The discussion also highlights concerns raised by community voices about whether wrapped XRP on Solana could carry similar risks.
One XRPL community voice suggested that the wrapped version of XRP on SOL released last weekend could face comparable vulnerabilities. The comment also noted that as the XRPL developer community prepares to vote on key lending protocol amendments for additional security, the ability to use XRP on non-native chains could expand collateral usage—while introducing additional risk.
In the account provided, KelpDAO’s exploiter collateralized siphoned funds via Aave V3, borrowing large amounts of Ethereum (ETH) and the wrapped version (wETH). The transaction trails were described as being hidden using Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer associated with high-profile hacking activity, including groups such as the North Korean Lazarus Group.
With DeFi hacks described as increasing in frequency, the article argues that compliance-first digital assets such as XRP and RLUSD may have an advantage over legally ambiguous crypto instruments. However, it also notes that RLUSD or XRP can still be exposed to hacks through DeFi liquidity pools when bridged to other blockchain platforms.
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