The XRP Ledger activated its Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) standard on October 1, turning on a native, protocol-level framework for issuing and governing fungible tokens that aims squarely at institutional tokenization—without relying on bespoke smart contracts. “The Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) standard is now live on the XRP Ledger mainnet,” wrote Ripple engineer Kenny Lei on X.

“It’s a new native token standard designed to make issuing real-world assets onchain far simpler, safer, and more aligned with how financial institutions operate.” Lei underscored the architectural departure from prevailing models: “Unlike most token standards, MPT isn’t built with custom smart contracts. It’s embedded directly into the protocol.”

XRP Ledger’s MPT Targets Ethereum’s Institutional Gap

That design choice is the point. On Ethereum, fungible assets such as ERC-20, or security-oriented frameworks like ERC-1400 and ERC-3643, are implemented as smart contracts at the application layer. By definition they must encode and enforce rules in contract code and coordinate with auxiliary registries, identity modules, or compliance oracles.

In Ethereum’s own documentation, an ERC-20 token is “a Smart Contract…responsible to keep track of the created tokens,” and security-token standards add optional modules for transfer controls, allowlists, document references, and operator roles—all still delivered as contract logic. MPT inverts that stack order by putting core controls in XRPL’s base protocol rather than in per-issuer contracts.

Lei’s thread framed the business problem: institutional pilots routinely stall over audit scope, bespoke logic, and regulatory uncertainty. MPT’s claim is to standardize those frictions away. As shipped, issuers can attach compliance and lifecycle semantics to a token “out of the box,” including KYC/AML authorization and allowlists, issuer-defined transfer rules, freeze and Go to Source to See Full Article
Author: Jake Simmons