Over the weekend, a blog surfaced claiming Ripple is planning to buy back 10 Billion XRP tokens. As soon as the blog picked up boost and started gaining mainstream attention, prominent people pushed back the claims. The Ripple CTO, David Scwartz and the pro-XRP lawyer, John Deaton, denied such possibility.
The issue was initially raised by prominent XRP influencer Sentosumosaba, who showcased the concerns about the website and its claims. The influencer noted the website’s recent registration and how it has published only 7 articles.
The website’s Twitter’s presence also had no history prior to June. Furthermore, its team members’ images were also stock images from other websites. All of these factors together raise questions on the credibility of the website publishing the article claiming Ripple buying back 10 billion XRP.
TheCryptoAlert site that published the $10B Ripple Buyback article was registered June 2023 (all the “Who Is” is open). They’ve published 7 articles (first 3 days ago). Twitter link (from site) began June, no tweets. The team is stock images used on other sites. Nothing credible. pic.twitter.com/arIjMVZp1e
— 🌸Crypto Eri 🪝Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) June 25, 2023
In response to the website’s claims, pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton took to Twitter and noted not believing any such thing of Ripple’s XRP buyback until an official confirmation from the company.
I don’t believe @Ripple is buying back 10B #XRP until I hear it from Ripple.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) June 24, 2023
When mentioned and asked about the instance by a Twitter user, Chief Technology Officer at Ripple, David Schwartz, stated that though the company buys XRP, there is nothing as mentioned in the blog is happening.
Scwartz denied the claims from the website and also highlighted the absence of any official source raising questions on its credibility, akin to Sentosumosaba.
We do sometimes buy XRP. But I don’t know of anything specific that this could be referring to. And there’s no official source mentioned.
— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 25, 2023
Considering the claims of Ripple buying 10 Billion XRP true for a moment, people had been concerned how the company could manage to buy it, given it would need almost $5 Billion.
Why and How to Invest $5 Billion?
Prominent lawyer and crypto enthusiast, Bill Morgan, raised the concern for how the company is likely to raise $5 Billion to buy back XRP at the current price. Since Ripple is going through a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it does not make sense to receive fundings. Though the lawyer left open the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) to accumulate the funds, it seems unlikely given the company executive denying any buyback plan.
Where are they obtaining the $5 Billion to buy it at its current price. Who would lend Ripple the funds, given the lawsuit, to buy back a token under a litigation cloud – unless there is another source of funding such as an IPO. https://t.co/N1iF0BDzhQ
— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) June 25, 2023
Also, Ripple escrow already holds over 50 Billion XRP tokens. Adding another 10 Billion XRP would be illogical, as noted by social media users.
One of the prominent legal tussles in the crypto space, Ripple vs SEC lawsuit, is still awaiting its result. The US financial regulator sued the blockchain based payment protocol and its executives in 2020 for selling unregistered securities. Since then, the case has developed to much extent yet the decision is still unknown. Many believe the lawsuit will conclude soon and are optimistic about the result in the favor of Ripple.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/06/26/ripple-has-no-plan-to-buyback-10-billion-xrp-cto-david-scwartz/