What is the native staking of #XRP and why are Ripple engineers evaluating it?

The native staking of XRP refers to a system where users lock XRP to contribute to the functioning of the network and receive rewards in return. This feature does not currently exist in the XRPL, whose consensus depends on the performance of validators and not on economic stakes.

According to J. Ayo Akinyele, the XRP asset has evolved beyond its initial role of quick settlement and today participates in tokenization, liquidity, and real-time value movement.

"When I think about how the utility of XRP could continue expanding along with new capabilities, a question naturally arises: What if the XRP Ledger (XRPL) supported native staking? What would that mean for the design of the network and the asset itself?" Akinyele wrote in an article.

With the arrival of the first XRP ETF and the advancement of new capabilities, the question arises of how to expand the utility of the token without compromising the stability of the XRPL.

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Akinyele explains that implementing #staking would require two key elements: a clear source of rewards and a fair mechanism to distribute them. This implies redefining how value circulates within the ledger, as XRPL burns fees instead of redistributing them, and its trust model is based on behavior, not collateral.

The idea sparks interest because XRPL maintains a TVL of just 75.7 million dollars, well below networks like Ethereum and Solana. A well-designed incentive system could attract new capital and expand the ecosystem #DeFi based on XRP.