Flare proposes new bridge to allow XRP to be used on Ethereum

On Aug. 26, Ripple (XRP) partner Flare Networks revealed details of a proposed new bridge connecting XRP with the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the XRP Army have expressed support for the first two-way bridge to bring the ecosystems together.

The trustless bridge will allow XRP on the Flare Network — known as FXRP — to be used within the Ethereum network while “providing a scaling platform for Ethereum tokens and applications.”

Flare is a network that integrates the Ethereum Virtual Machine in order to provide advanced smart contracts on the XRP network.

The proposal, which needs to be approved by the Ripple Foundation, will be the group’s first governance proposal and has mostly been met with positive feedback from the community, with Twitter user Tristan commenting, “As soon as it’s done. I’m moving all my apps and smart contracts over.”

But some users, like JGrim, question whether a connection to Ethereum was needed at all, saying that “it will only slow down the Flare network.” Ethereum’s fees have hit $99 for some DeFi users recently amid network congestion.

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that Flare will offer users the best of both worlds:

“From my point of view Flare is combining the best of XRP (VERY fast settlement), Ethereum (smart contracts) and Avalanche (for consensus) which helps extend XRP’s utility and allows developers to create smart contracts for new use cases like lending and defi.”

Flare Network’s collaboration with Ripple began in November last year and was funded by Ripple’s Development arm Xpring. In February this year, Xpring announced its intention to develop a bridge between the two networks and sponsored three challenges during the ETH Denver hackathon, all of which revolved around a bridge between XRP and Ethereum. 

Flare’s CEO and founder Hugo Philion is confident about this new proposal since there are already “several projects” that serve as a two-way bridge between other networks and Ethereum. Last week the NEAR project launched the Rainbow Bridge connecting their platform with Ethereum, and Enjin have already built a bridge connecting Hyperledger with Ethereum.