XRPL Apex 2025, Day 1: EVM Sidechain, Tokenized U.S. Treasuries and VivoPower $100M XRP Deployment on XRPL

Day 1 of XRPL Apex 2025 in Singapore opened with important updates, setting the tone for what's shaping up to be a major year for the XRP Ledger. Notably, the event, held at the Raffles City Convention Centre, brought together developers, institutions, and blockchain leaders to explore XRPL's growing impact on finance and technology. XRPL Apex 2025: EVM Sidechain Launch Timeline  One of the biggest announcements came from Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, and Director of Product Management, Jaazi Cooper, who confirmed that the XRPL EVM Sidechain will officially go live on the mainnet sometime in the second quarter of 2025.  https://twitter.com/thecryptobasic/status/1932679211783012536 Ripple built the sidechain in collaboration with Peersyst, connecting it through Axelar Network. Specifically, it aims to bring Ethereum-compatible smart contracts to XRPL, allowing more decentralized apps and broader use cases.  The team did not share a specific date, but the timeline lines up with recent progress on the testnet. After launching on March 31, the testnet averaged over 280,000 transactions a day. In just two months, 87 new projects, many of them new to the XRP ecosystem, joined the network. ONDO Launches OUSG on XRPL Meanwhile, also on the first day of the XRPL Apex 2025 event, Ondo Finance officially launched its tokenized U.S. Treasuries, known as OUSG, on the XRPL. The launch came on schedule, following a January commitment to deliver the product within six months.  https://twitter.com/thecryptobasic/status/1932675808461537639 OUSG is backed by BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund and short-term government bonds, and it currently holds a reported market value of around $692 million.  Notably, investors can mint and redeem these assets anytime using Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD. Ondo and Ripple also teamed up to provide liquidity at launch. The product includes full compliance features like KYC and AML checks, supported by XRPL's built-in tools such as decentralized IDs and on-chain credentials. VivoPower's $100M XRP Deployment on XRPL In another massive move, Max Luck from Flare Network announced that NASDAQ-listed energy firm VivoPower is putting $100 million worth of XRP into Flare's ecosystem.  https://twitter.com/thecryptobasic/status/1932745394322043013 For context, this capital will go toward generating yield through Flare's suite of DeFi tools, including FAssets and Firelight. As returns grow, the company plans to reinvest in its XRP treasury. Other Important Disclosures from the XRPL Apex 2025 Notably, Ripple also shared important figures that show strong momentum for XRPL. For instance, the network has handled over 3.3 billion transactions and supports more than 6 million active XRP wallets. Meanwhile, on-chain payment activity has jumped by 1300%. Further, the day also included the rollout of a new feature for NFTs on XRPL. Particularly, a recent upgrade now supports Dynamic NFTs. Meanwhile, Ripple President Monica Long closed out the day with a call for clear crypto regulations in the U.S., saying that regulatory certainty will help fuel growth not just for XRPL, but for the broader blockchain industry.