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- Ripple partner, Flare Networks, announces the launch of the Coston testnet to trial smart contract integration with XRP.
- Coston will be a testbed for developers who want to launch applications with Flare and XRP integrated.
Ripple’s partner, Flare Networks, revealed in a publication the launch of a testnet. Named Coston, the testnet will be the first to trial the integration of smart XRP contracts with Flare, in “a next-generation blockchain”.
Ripple’s partnership with Flare was announced November last year. Built through Ripple’s development division, Xpring, the partnership aims to increase Ripple’s interoperability and the number of XRP use cases. The partnership with Flare Networks allows XRP to benefit from the first protocol of the Turing Complete Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA). The use of smart contracts is possible because Flare integrates the Ethereum virtual machine, which allows public and private networks to run them. In that sense, Flare has revealed that the Coston testnet:
(…) is structured as a network running the official release of the Avalanche consensus protocol while leveraging the Ethereum Virtual Machine for smart contracts (…). Flare and Coston implement and customize Avalanche to form a Turing-complete Federated Byzantine Agreement System.
Ripple and Flare build next generation blockchain
The Coston testnet has two main objectives. The first is to allow developers to trial the potential applications they can build with Flare and the XRP token. Second, to test the different functionalities of the smart contracts that will form the utility core of the Flare network:
The Flare Network will have a two way trustless integration with XRP. On Coston, this is modelled as a basic one way peg, whereby a user burns test XRP tokens to receive representative XRP tokens. This gives developers and Flare a methodology for building and optimizing applications that account for the interaction between the Flare Network and the XRP Ledger.
Furthermore it was learned that Flare will use the XRP address and its encryption system to provide users of the Ripple token with a near-perfect form of interaction with smart contracts on the Flare network. By using the Flare network, the XRP Ledger will be enhanced with smart contract functionality for both individuals and businesses.
Ripple has not stopped investing and working to increase its interoperability between independent blockchains. In February this year, Xpring’s intention to build a bridge between Ripple’s native token, XRP and Ethereum was announced. For this reason, Xpring has supported initiatives to encourage cooperation between the two communities and has invited developers to contribute to the construction of this bridge.
