Blockchain development firm Peersyst Technology has announced that a testnet version of an Ethereum-compatible sidechain for the XRP Ledger is now officially live. 

The company says that the milestone has been completed in collaboration with RippleX, the development arm of Ripple, Web3 interoperability platform Alexar Network, and blockchain science firm Common Prefix. 

The first-of-its-kind sidechain aims to unlock the potential of decentralized finance on XRPL. It uses the Ripple-linked XRP cryptocurrency as its native token.  

The devnet version of the sidechain was originally launched back in October 2022. A new version was then rolled out in June 2023. 

Following the testnet launch, Peersyst is now on track to announce new partners and validators in the coming days. “There’s still a lot more to announce, but we’re taking it step by step,” the firm said. 

Last September, Schwartz said that he wanted the XRPL EVM sidechain to succeed. “I hope the XRPL EVM sidechain is extremely successful and competitive as a smart contract platform and will be another XRP ecosystem,” Schwartz said.