NFTs can now be tested on the XRPL as RippleX releases NFT-Devnet

With the NFT market continuing to boom with flooded marketplaces, another player that could soon be seen rising within the ranks of the sector is Ripple. Months after first announcing the development of an NFT platform on the XRP Ledger, RippleX has finally released the NFT-Devnet for users to test the blockchain’s NFT functionalities.

NFT hype in full swing

RippleX announced earlier that the NFT testnet is now available for “developers to learn about and experiment with the native NFT capabilities introduced with XLS-20d.”

I know how long people have waited for this so I'm excited to let everyone know that the XLS-20-based NFT-Devnet is now available for anyone who wants to begin testing the proposed native NFT extensions to the XRPL.https://t.co/x1woWF3eDY

— ? ? ? ? (@nbougalis) January 11, 2022

The XLS-20d was a proposal introduced in May last year to build extensions to the XRP Ledger in order for it to not only support unique NFTs native to the network, but also “enumerate, transfer and hold such tokens.” The NFT-Devnet has been created as a beta environment for developers to test NFT functionalities on the XRPL before the XLS-20d is released on the mainnet, the statement noted. It added,

“Advanced features like automatic royalties, which enable more sophisticated royalty structures for creators, and co-ownership, which expands access possibilities to assets, are also built into the proposal.”

RippleX further revealed that the release of the NFT-Devnet will allow developers to mint NFTs on the XRPL for the very first time, and the test network is built exactly like what the primary DevNet will look like.

The NFT-Devnet will also serve as a platform for the XLS-20d to be released first so that developers and server operators can test both the capabilities and requirements of the proposed changes, “without compromising the performance of the XRPL.”

Piece of the NFT pie

The NFT market has been growing at an exponential rate over the last year, with sales estimated to have crossed the $25 billion milestone in 2021. Consequently, marketplaces hosting these tokens such as OpenSea have skyrocketed in popularity and trading volumes and networks such as Ethereum and Solana upon which they are built seem to have maxed out their capacities.

It is no wonder that Ripple is trying to cash in on the burgeoning industry through a number of proposed changes and developments. At the same time, it has also maintained its focus on making these NFTs cost-efficient and environmentally friendly, something its rival Ethereum has been widely criticized for lacking.

RippleX has also been heavily involved in roping in quality developers and creators to its platform in a bid to fulfill its vision of making XRPL the “blockchain-of-choice for NFTs.” Earlier in September, it had made NFTs its point of focus while issuing the first wave of XRPL grants aimed at its development. A total of 25 applicants from around the world received $2 million for the same.

What’s more, Ripple also introduced a creator’s fund worth $250 million around the same time to rope in NFT developers on the Ledger and explore its use cases.