Cardano’s Lace Wallet to Integrate XRP, Earns Praise & Participation from Lawyer John Deaton

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson delivered a sweeping “State of the Union”-style update on the blockchain’s progress, detailing new partnerships, major technical advancements, and a clear-eyed view on regulation. Speaking from Colorado, Hoskinson laid out a vision for Cardano’s expanding role in the crypto world.

New Alliances and Ecosystem Growth

A major highlight was the confirmation that Cardano’s Lace wallet will integrate support for XRP by the end of the year. The move signals closer ties between two of crypto’s most passionate communities, with pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton calling the prospect of collaboration an “honor.”

Hoskinson emphasized the importance of forging such alliances, referencing recent discussions with leaders such as Sergey Nazarov of Chainlink, Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana, Ilia Polosukhin of Near, and Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse.

Hoskinson used this momentum to contrast with his perception of the Cardano Foundation’s lack of engagement at key industry forums, an issue that has led to Security Talk and a Surprise $100M Cardano DeFi Proposal from Charles Hoskinson in recent past.

Governance, Regulation, and Global Expansion

Hoskinson directly addressed the critique of the Cardano Foundation, highlighting the role of Intersect, a members-based body, in fulfilling the network’s decentralized governance goals. His blunt assessment comes as he tries to rally the community, sometimes having to push back against what he calls “Straight-Up Fake News” from media reports about suing a DRep.

On the regulatory front, Hoskinson pointed to the Clarity Act, expected to see movement by October, as a key step in providing clearer rules for digital assets. He also flagged the Federal Reserve’s limited statutory authority over decentralized financial products, a gap that may require urgent resolution. Looking ahead, he highlighted Cardano’s upcoming Asia tour, with visits to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Singapore to expand adoption across new markets.

Technical Innovation and Future Prospects

Hoskinson saved some of the most significant updates for the technology. He spotlighted Hydra, Cardano’s scaling solution, as a key piece of infrastructure for real-world systems.

He also introduced the Laos protocol, a new pipeline-based consensus mechanism aimed at scaling Cardano without sharding. Along with existing solutions like Mithril and Genesis, Laos is part of a multi-pronged strategy to solve the blockchain scalability trilemma.