XRP in Escrow Is Different From Flare Airdrop Situation Says Ripple CTO

Schwartz opposes comparisons between XRP in escrow and Flare airdrop holding rules.

Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has argued against comparisons between the XRP Ripple holds in escrow and the Flare Networks airdrop rewards balance.

“The two situations are not comparable,” Schwartz asserted in a tweet on Saturday.

According to the Ripple executive, the XRP in escrow is solely owned by Ripple, and the company can use it as it wishes. Conversely, Schwartz asserts that in the case of the Flare Networks airdrop reward for XRP holders, it is community-owned. Consequently, the community should decide how it is distributed.

Nonetheless, Schwartz expressed that, in hindsight, he wished that Ripple had given away more XRP while it still had negligible value.

The latest statements from the Ripple executive come after a member of the Flare community called him out for his recent criticisms of the FLR airdrop rewards holding rules.

It bears mentioning Flare Networks had promised XRP holders at the time of a screenshot 28.5 billion of the 100 billion FLR token supply. However, during the Token Distribution Event (TDE), it distributed only 15% of the promised total, promising to distribute the remaining 85% to those who hold on to their rewards over the next 36 months, in line with the first Flare Improvement Proposal (FIP.01).

The proposal is yet to pass. Voting started on Saturday and will end on January 28, per the details shared on the Flare Proposals Repository. 

Flare Networks CEO Hugo Philion explaining the rationale behind the decision, asserted that “singular airdrops don’t work.” According to Philion, recipients dump the tokens before the ecosystem can develop.

In response, Schwartz asserted that the tokens only get dumped once, and sales, in reality, are made to buyers with a stronger belief in the project.

They get dumped *once* and then it’s over. Every sell is to a matching buyer who wants the token more than the person who sold it wants it because they believe in the ecosystem more. https://t.co/tVOejRooPP

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) January 21, 2023

It is worth noting that less than 2 weeks ago, the Ripple CTO suggested that Flare Networks used the XRP community to gain notoriety, only to dump it afterward. Later on the same day, Schwartz asserted that there was no remaining airdrop balance.