- David Schwartz says XRP compensation arrived much later than expected.
- Ripple CTO Emeritus clarified he is not company founder.
- Comments highlighted differences between XRP Ledger creation and Ripple.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has clarified that he did not receive XRP compensation during Ripple’s earliest days, addressing assumptions raised by a recently shared document detailing rewards given to several early participants. According to Schwartz, he is not generally considered a founder of Ripple and only received XRP much later, despite helping build the technology that eventually became the XRP Ledger. His comments came after a discussion on X about a screenshot outlining various individuals involved in Ripple’s early history.
The screenshot identified one participant as “cryptographer 1,” describing a Californian who served as Ripple’s chief cryptographer before later becoming the company’s chief technology officer. Reacting to the document, Schwartz joked that he was actually wearing a “cryptographer-1” shirt when he saw the post. However, the discussion quickly shifted to XRP allocations. One X user questioned why the compensation details of other early figures appeared in the document while Schwartz’s allocation was absent. According to Schwartz, there was a simple explanation for that difference.
“I’m not generally considered a founder of Ripple and did not receive any XRP as compensation until much, much later,” Schwartz wrote.
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Schwartz Explains His Position in Ripple’s Early History
Schwartz’s clarification highlights a distinction that often creates confusion within the XRP community. While he played a major role in developing the XRP Ledger, his involvement with Ripple differed from that of the company’s founders. In 2011, Schwartz worked alongside Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto to create a digital asset network designed to improve on some of Bitcoin’s limitations. Their goal was to build a system optimized for payments while offering greater efficiency and sustainability.
The XRP Ledger launched in June 2012 shortly afterward, Chris Larsen joined the effort and helped establish NewCoin, which later became OpenCoin before eventually adopting the Ripple name. Although Schwartz was one of the original architects behind the XRP Ledger, he indicated that Ripple’s history generally does not classify him as a company founder. Consequently, his compensation structure differed from that of other early participants whose XRP allocations have been publicly discussed over the years.
His latest remarks provide additional context about Ripple’s formative years and clarify a topic that continues to generate debate within the XRP community. They also reinforce the distinction between creating the XRP Ledger and founding Ripple, two milestones that are frequently linked together despite involving different roles and responsibilities.
From Chief Cryptographer to CTO Emeritus
Schwartz originally joined Ripple, then known as OpenCoin, as its chief cryptographer and later became the company’s CTO in 2018. In late 2025, he stepped down from the position and transitioned to the role of CTO Emeritus.
The clarification offers a clearer picture of Schwartz’s place in Ripple’s history and explains why his XRP compensation timeline differed from several of the project’s earliest figures. Schwartz stated that he was not considered a Ripple founder and that he received XRP compensation much later, helping to clarify a long-standing misconception about his role in the company’s early development.
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