Ripple’s Schwartz Confirms Selling Most XRP

David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz, XRP Ledger’s co-creator and Ripple’s former chief technology officer, has said he reduced his XRP position from a peak of roughly 26 million tokens to between 2 million and 3 million.

The drop came from a mix of gifts, transfers, and open-market sales spread across several years.

Sales Followed a Personal Risk Rule

Schwartz described the sales as driven by risk tolerance rather than a negative view of XRP. He and his wife adopted a practice of selling portions of their holdings whenever prices reached new highs, prioritizing financial security over the chance of larger gains later.

In 2025 alone he sold about 2.5 million XRP, a significant share of which related to earlier compensation.

He has publicly referenced a $1.7 million tax bill while rejecting claims that he quietly offloaded tokens onto retail holders.

He has also acknowledged regrets, including XRP sold near $0.10 and an early Ethereum position. Even so, he has said that holding large amounts of volatile digital assets left him uncomfortable.

Schwartz Downplays His Influence on Price

The comments arrived as some XRP holders renewed criticism of Schwartz amid dipping XRP price action. The OG token has fallen roughly 50% over the past year and was recently trading in the $1.06 to $1.16 range.

Responding to suggestions that he bears responsibility for the decline, Schwartz said he could not claim to have absolutely no effect on XRP’s price but described his influence as “very little.” He has also pushed back on users who bring XRP-related attacks into unrelated discussions.

Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz left Ripple’s day-to-day operations at the end of 2025. He remains a board member and CTO Emeritus. Much of his remaining exposure is now in Ripple equity, which is not publicly traded and cannot be readily sold.

Personal Selling Versus Broader Market Pressure

Early builders can influence sentiment, yet their individual sales do not by themselves explain a market facing weaker momentum, fund outflows, and a cautious trading environment.

Schwartz’s remaining stake is small relative to his historical holdings and is now concentrated in illiquid equity rather than freely tradable XRP.

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