Ripple ‘should act in its own interest’ when selling XRP, Ripple CTO says

Ripple Labs’ chief technology officer (CTO), David Schwartz, said the company has a right to sell XRP tokens for operational funding, stating that Ripple is under no obligation to act in the interests of investors. In response to online critics against XRP, his remarks come just days after US President Donald Trump proposed adding the token to the planned national strategic crypto reserve.

Schwartz’s comments surfaced following a Wednesday post by Pierre Rochard, vice president of research at Riot Platforms, who argued that XRP investors should not expect the company will put them first.

“XRP isn’t a security because Ripple doesn’t actually owe you ‘utility’ or anything else,” Rochard wrote on X. “They are free to dump on you, and you have no right to do anything about it other than join them in dumping XRP.”

Schwartz, known by his online alias “JoelKatz,” seemingly agreed with Rochard’s assessment. “100% correct. IMO, Ripple can, will, and should act in its own interest,” he responded. 

When pressed about Ripple’s obligations to its shareholders, the CTO made it clear that the company operates as a privately held corporation, which is obligated to prioritize its shareholder interests.

Debate over Ripple’s long-term strategy

The social media chatter surrounding Ripple comes just two days after blockchain security sleuth ZachXBT revealed the existence of a dormant XRP wallet potentially linked to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. The wallet, which had been inactive for over six years, reportedly contains more than 2.7 billion XRP tokens, valued at approximately $7.18 billion.

On his Telegram channel, ZachXBT also noted that accounts tied to Larsen had transferred over $109 million worth of XRP to exchanges in January 2025. Some crypto community members believe Larsen may have lost access to the funds due to its dormancy, but the revelation has started a train of questions over Ripple’s control of XRP supply, which they say could manipulate the token’s prices.

Here’s a chart to help clear it up. XRP owns about 45 billion of the 100 billion supply cap. pic.twitter.com/FEGHqXkYTq

— Bitcoin Brunch ⚡️☕️ (@bitbrunchpod) March 5, 2025

One user asked CTO Shwartz if Ripple’s best strategy was to sell XRP for immediate profit or to stay put in the crypto market for long-term viability. The user suggested that maintaining a stable price would allow the token to handle larger transactions more efficiently.

Schwartz answered by pointing to the company’s escrow system, which limits the amount of XRP that can be liquidated within a short period. 

“Even if we didn’t want to, we have no choice but to be betting on the long-term health of the space,” he said. “We have more XRP than we could possibly monetize in a short period of time, so there’s no way to avoid us being here for quite a bit longer.” 

XRP token distribution on the spot

Music producer and crypto commentator Jonnie King joined the conversation, throwing claims that Ripple’s control over XRP supply allows it to manipulate prices and mislead retail investors. 

After Shwartz asked him what he found “interesting” in the XRP Ledger (XRPL), King made several allegations, including a theory about Ripple pre-mining 100% of XRP for insiders and dumping $1 billion worth of tokens onto the market each month.

The music artist also accused Ripple of political manoeuvring, claiming the company initially supported Kamala Harris’ election campaign before switching sides to Donald Trump after his victory. 

“Paying influencers to spread fake news propaganda on a regular basis to pump the price and misguide retail. And don’t get me started on how Ripple donated heavily to Kamala’s campaign during the election and then only went on to donate to Trump’s AFTER he won. Seriously cannot believe you conned him into putting XRP into the Reserve,” he surmised.

Schwartz refuted King’s accusations, calling his statements a collection of talking points disconnected from the initial discussion. 

“You made a nonsensical argument. I asked you to defend it. You responded with a long list of talking points that had no connection to your original argument.” 

I gave you a chance to show that you did actually know something about the tech (as you claimed) and hadn't just stored a list of talking points (as I suspected) to repeat. So, honestly this time, do you actually know anything about the tech behind XRPL?

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) March 3, 2025

Unconvinced by the CTO’s “bland” response, King propounded that XRP’s DEX lacks programmability and relies on trust-based IOUs. 

“The XRP reorg feature that you’re claiming is a benefit is, again, the antithesis of Bitcoin,” King concluded, asserting that Bitcoin’s decentralized model makes it more resistant to manipulation. Schwartz did not give any response to King’s final points.

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