In an announcement on Twitter, the chief technology officer at Ripple, David Schwartz confirmed that the xCurrent 4.0 is live. xCurrent is Ripple Lab Inc.’s enterprise software product that allows banks to transfer money cross-border with end-to-end tracking, making sure that the banks or finance enterprises can make cheaper and faster transactions which they can also trace.
Upgrading to xCurrent 4.0
xCurrent 4.0 is an upgrade of the technology, adding another technology called xRapid, which means that Ripple’s client that has xCurrent 4.0 can employ xRapid – powered by XRP.
Here is David Schwartz’ announcement on the status of the upgrade, adding what it can now offer:
4.0 is live. We're working to get all customers upgraded, but it's a complex process. Multihop, xRapid support, much easier peering, and a much easier customer integration process are the major new features.
— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 6, 2019
The new xCurrent will let users access xRapid support, Multi-hop, easier peering and many other features. As you can see, the new version is live, but customers will have to wait through a complex process. Asked about the upgrade process, he explained that the different architecture of xCurrent 4.0 will make the upgrade a “bit painful”:
“Unfortunately, because the architecture is so different, the upgrade can be a bit painful, requiring changes to customer middleware. We are learning a lot about maintaining enterprise software for FIs and keep working hard to improve our processes.”
While the upgrade is not mandatory, customers should opt in because some features could be inconsistent, added Schwartz in a comment:
No. But having a mix of majot versions can make features work inconsistently. It's like IPv4 and IPv6. They can interoperate, but until IPv6 takes over 100%, there will always be pain points for people who don't run both, and also for people who do run both.
— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 6, 2019
The users on Twitter and XRP community are happy about this update, and Schwartz’ comments and replies on Twitter helped them understand the new features that will be introduced with xCurrent 4.0.
The support on XPR based xRapid was also great news. XRP might have a lower value rate, but it is quite popular among the crypto & fintech players. Moreover, RippleNet, xRapid, and xCurrent technologies are moving forward. Ripple’s goal is to make cross-border payments easier all over the world
