XRP Ledger developers are patching the network's new lending protocol before it goes live. A follow-up amendment fixes the original code while it still waits for validator votes.
The XRP Ledger is patching its new lending feature before a single loan has been written on it. Developers added a second code amendment to repair the system while it sits in the network's approval queue.
A follow-up amendment fixes the original
The lending protocol enables on-chain, fixed-term, uncollateralized loans drawn from pooled funds. It was introduced through an amendment called LendingProtocol, which is still open for validator voting.
Rather than wait for that version to go live and then fix it, developers published a follow-up called LendingProtocolV1_1. It corrects issues in the original before it takes effect. The documentation now lists both amendments as requirements for the feature, so the network would adopt the repaired version from the start.
This follows the way changes reach the ledger. New features and fixes ship as amendments that must earn support from at least 80% of trusted validators over a two-week period before activating. Because the original lending code has not cleared that bar, a second amendment avoids launching a known-flawed system and then scrambling to repair it.
Credit built on underwriting, not collateral
The protocol targets institutional-style credit rather than the collateral and liquidation model common in DeFi. It relies on off-chain underwriting to vet borrowers. It also uses "first-loss capital," a buffer a loan broker puts up to absorb the initial hit from defaults, in place of automated on-chain collateral.
Issuers keep compliance tools, including the ability to freeze accounts or claw back funds.
Patch follows a payment-engine scare
The caution comes after a close call elsewhere in the ledger's code. Developers recently disclosed and fixed a critical bug in the payment engine that could have let an attacker mint counterfeit XRP. The flaw sat dormant for roughly a decade before a researcher flagged it.
Fixing the lending code before launch fits a more cautious posture around new functionality.
Source: Decrypt
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