The fund is an extension to the XRPL Grants program which launched in 2021 and, to date, has awarded $6 million in total funding to more than 50 open-source projects built on the XRP Ledger.

Developers on the XRPL want to build and scale their apps on the ledger largely due to its speed, scalability and carbon neutrality. Inspired by the tremendous developer interest garnered from the community-driven XRPL Grants program, Ripple will provide financial, technical, and business support to introduce several new developer programs as part of the fund. Over the next 10 to 20 years, the 1B XRP, as part of the grants program, will be disbursed to developers eager to build and scale their apps from proof-of-concept to new businesses on the XRP Ledger. The fund’s programs are specifically designed to accelerate, train, mentor and scale projects developed by the XRPL community, including:
• Accelerator program: A multi-month bootcamp that will provide projects on the XRPL with business and financial support, training and mentorship.
• Decentralized finance (DeFi): A program to support DeFi projects on the XRPL.
• Diversity & Inclusion (D&I): A fund to work with university partners to build a pipeline of diverse applicants, as well as partnerships with organizations and affiliation groups supporting underrepresented communities in software development.
• Sustainability: A program to address challenges related to sustainability, e.g. ESG NFTs, carbon credits tokenization.
• Expanded judging committee: Growing the panel of XRPL Grants program judges to ensure diverse viewpoints and expertise when evaluating projects.

“The developer community has seen a tremendous growth and passion for building on the XRP Ledger that has only increased since the launch of the XRPL Grants program last year,” said Monica Long, GM of RippleX at Ripple. “With this new expansion, we are committing to participating in and supporting the developer community long-term. As the community grows, and the infrastructure and apps ecosystem matures, we are also excited about the opportunity for RippleNet customers to benefit from the community’s offerings and vice versa.”

The XRPL Grants program furthers Ripple’s shared vision with the developer community to help build the Internet of Value by contributing improvements and new use cases to blockchain technology and specifically, the XRPL. The first two waves of the XRPL Grants program focused on projects related to NFTs and Federated Sidechains, respectively.

The third wave of applications for the XRPL Grants is now open and seeks projects focused on open-source contributions.