Ripple Executive: XRP Requires a Strategy Similar to Solana’s to Stay Competitive

Key takeaways:

• Luke Judges emphasizes that simply having technical strength does not ensure long-term competitiveness, indicating that XRP could gain advantages from Solana’s practicality and execution speed.

• Judges attributes Solana’s market success to effective engineering and a quick go-to-market strategy rather than solely its protocol design.

• David Schwartz holds a contrary view, asserting that the reliability and stability of XRPL hold more value than chasing after high-throughput chains.

• Judges stresses the importance of developer onboarding, tooling, and validator incentives to sustain growth and mitigate centralization risks.

Luke Judges, global partner success lead and director of Ripple, shared insights regarding the evolving XRP Ledger ecosystem and its competitive environment, drawing a clear comparison to the operational achievements of the rival layer-1 network Solana. Reflecting on his previous experience managing a significant validator in the Solana network, Judges indicated that technical superiority alone is insufficient for ensuring a network’s long-term relevance.

This article delves into Ripple executives’ insights on operational lessons, focusing on technical advancements within the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and the strategic needs for layer-1 competitiveness.

Operational lessons from Solana’s playbook

Judges’ viewpoint is distinct and grounded in his experience running two startups and operating a Solana validator managing over $30 million in staked tokens through an entire market cycle. He mentioned this insight on Nov. 30, 2025, on X, observing the network’s significant price peak, followed by its collapse and recovery.

This direct experience led Judges to conclude that a layer-1 network’s success in a competitive cycle is often influenced by factors that extend beyond core technology. He specifically credited Solana for possessing “pragmatism and speed,” which he considers crucial for gaining developer mindshare and accelerating adoption.

The main idea is that execution speed and a practical approach to engineering and market entry can outweigh theoretical dominance in the race for ecosystem expansion.

Nonetheless, Judges suggests that other chains should learn from Solana’s operational approach, arguing that “there’s no point in ignoring the fact that you’re not the only chain in the market.” For the XRPL, these insights reveal potential oversights, indicating that technical achievements must be accompanied by a proactive go-to-market (GTM) strategy to translate into a genuine competitive advantage.

Technical developments in the XRP Ledger

The push for strategic acceleration arises as the XRPL actively seeks significant technical growth, including the introduction of XRP Ledger Smart Contracts on AlphaNet. Historically optimized for rapid, low-cost cross-border payments via its federated consensus mechanism, the XRPL is now aiming to enhance its programmability and utility within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

In direct contrast to Judges’ viewpoint, David Schwartz, chief technology officer of Ripple and the original architect of the XRP Ledger, stressed that XRP’s design philosophy focuses on reliability, efficiency, and institutional-grade performance. He contends that this places the network as inherently superior to high-throughput chains like Solana without necessitating a fundamental change to its core strategy.

Schwartz critiques blockchains such as Solana for prioritizing raw speed over stability, pointing to its history of network outages as an indicator that such an approach is ill-suited for real-world financial applications.

For Schwartz, the XRPL’s consensus mechanism ensures consistent transaction finality and near-zero fees, providing enhanced uptime and predictability. He believes this represents a critical competitive advantage that should take precedence over emulating the ecosystem structure that Judges regards as “pragmatic and speedy.”

Developer and ecosystem considerations

A significant component of Judges’ evaluation pertains to the developer experience and ecosystem support. Offering effective developer tools, clear documentation, and structured onboarding processes can motivate builders to deploy applications and engage with the network.

Judges’ observations highlight core challenges in maintaining a resilient layer-1 network, especially the necessity for robust and sustainable validator economics. While acknowledging Solana’s achievements in attracting builders, he also pointed out that the network struggles with the concern that “validator count is rapidly declining,” raising long-term questions about decentralization and sustainability in its incentive model.

For the XRPL, this serves as a preemptive warning against establishing incentive frameworks prone to similar concentration risks, especially as the network investigates native staking concepts.

The discussion over validator economics underscores the differing design philosophies between the two networks. The XRPL’s consensus is appreciated for its proven stability, rapid transaction finality, and institutional-grade reliability. Its challenge lies in formulating new staking mechanisms that enhance utility without compromising its fundamental value proposition of predictable reliability—an aspect that contrasts with the instability observed in some high-throughput chains.

Did you know? In his X post, Judges indicates that the Ethereum Foundation is becoming “much more focused in their GTM,” highlighting its pivot toward layer-2 solutions, or rollups. This strategy directly addresses user grievances about high fees and sluggish speeds on the main chain, issues that Solana effectively leveraged to attract users.

Market context and strategic execution

Judges’ main message should not be viewed as an existential threat to the XRPL but rather as a constructive call for strategic adaptation. It represents a recognition that the competitive environment favors execution over mere theoretical technological superiority.

In practical terms, Judges states that the XRPL’s strategic emphasis should focus on three areas:

• Enhancing the developer experience to streamline and simplify building on the XRPL, drawing inspiration from Solana’s emphasis on practical, user-friendly tools.

• Refining the market strategy to swiftly convert new technical features like smart contracts into clear, unique, and attractive advantages for partners and users.

• Capitalizing on reliability for enterprise adoption, which is the XRPL’s key strength, while incorporating the operational speed and flexibility characteristic of competitor networks.

Judges’ conclusion can be interpreted as a reminder that to capture the next phase of blockchain adoption, strategic adaptation is necessary to ensure the XRPL’s execution aligns with its technical innovations and well-established leadership in cross-border financial applications.