Ripple CTO Says He Holds XRP and Would Raise XRP Price if He Could

Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently reaffirmed that he holds XRP and would increase its price if possible, as he responds to fresh price suppression claims.

The confirmation came as part of a larger discussion within the XRP community regarding XRP’s value, where Schwartz again dismissed allegations that Ripple actively suppresses XRP’s price.

XRP Cannot be “Dirt Cheap”

The Ripple CTO’s remarks emerged after a community member revisited a statement he made back in 2017. At the time, Schwartz argued that XRP’s price couldn’t remain “dirt cheap” due to its utility in cross-border payments. 

He explained that if XRP were valued at $1, a transaction worth $1 million would require 1 million XRP. However, if XRP were to rise to $1 million per coin, only 1 XRP would be needed for the same payment. He further emphasized that higher prices make transactions more cost-effective.

Now, as XRP struggles to maintain its price around $0.58, the community member sarcastically commented that, despite Schwartz’s previous prediction, XRP remained “dirt cheap” seven years later. 

In response, Schwartz clarified that the cost to make a $1 million payment in XRP is still exactly $1 million, regardless of the price. His statement indicated that, even with fluctuations in XRP’s value, the overall cost of payments remains tied to the amount being transacted.

A Motivation to See XRP Prices High

However, another community member reignited the long-standing conspiracy that Ripple may be suppressing XRP’s price using trading bots, despite repeated rebuttals from the company and its executives. The user urged Ripple to stop keeping the price low. 

Schwartz again dismissed these claims, reiterating that he personally holds XRP and that if there were any way he could influence its price to rise, he would certainly take that action. His response was a direct rebuttal to the idea that Ripple is manipulating the market to keep prices down.

I hold XRP. If there was some way I could get the price of XRP to go up, I assure you that I would do it.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) September 20, 2024

The Ripple CTO’s exact XRP holdings remain private, but he previously disclosed that at one point, he owned as much as 26 million XRP. Additionally, he has never traded his XRP for other cryptocurrencies, indicating his long-term commitment to the asset. 

Notably, with Schwartz and other Ripple executives holding large amounts of XRP, it makes no sense for them to actively attempt to suppress the price of the asset. In addition, Ripple as a company also holds nearly 39 billion XRP in escrow, meaning it would benefit from an increase in value as well.

Meanwhile, another community member pointed to a reference in court documents from Ripple’s case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The user cited a remark where Ripple admitted to “letting XRP breathe,” implying that the company could be involved in managing its price. Schwartz responded by stating that Ripple has actively searched for evidence of its actions influencing XRP’s price but found none. 

We’ve looked for evidence that changes in our activity affect the price of XRP and weren’t able to find any. Even over 8 years, XRP price and XLM price track absurdly well.pic.twitter.com/NmQjISXZqY

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) September 21, 2024

He further noted that XRP’s price closely tracks that of Stellar Lumens (XLM) over the past eight years, suggesting that external market forces, not internal company actions, are the main drivers of XRP’s price.