Cryptographer Nik Bougalis, who led key XRP Ledger protocol development for nearly a decade, has officially returned to work on the project's source code. Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz endorsed his return, having previously stated that only working with Bougalis again could make him interrupt his break. Bougalis marked his return by opening pull request PR #8300, focusing on a deep, low-level modernization of the network's core to significantly improve security and optimize performance. RippleX Head of Engineering H. Ayo Akinyele confirmed Bougalis will tackle ambitious next-generation technology challenges, restoring the ecosystem's engineering advantage amid real-world asset (RWA) integration and evolving U.S. regulatory landscape. Bougalis previously left Ripple in 2022 and served as CTO of the Algorand Foundation in 2025.