David Schwartz, former Ripple CTO, said he has not bought XRP in a long time and has sold nearly all the digital assets he has ever held because he is uncomfortable with risk, comments that prompted fresh debate among XRP holders.
In posts on X, Schwartz said he still holds a considerable amount of Ripple stock, which he considers more risk than he would ideally like to take. He has reduced his XRP holdings from 26 million to 3 million, his Bitcoin holdings from 1,500 to 1 BTC, and his Ethereum stash from 40,000 to 6 ETH.
Risk tolerance, not a forecast
The remarks drew attention from community members who questioned why someone involved in creating the XRP Ledger would still view the asset as a risky investment. One user said Schwartz understands the technology, its potential, growing adoption, and how a higher XRP price could improve efficiency and costs, and asked why he would be reluctant to hold more.
Schwartz did not dispute that point. He said almost every major risk he has taken in life has paid off, but that does not change the fact that he simply hates taking risks.
Another X user said the comments had “opened a can of worms” for Ripple and asked how XRP could be considered a risky investment if the company’s plans and business model were as solid as the community had been led to believe. The user even suggested the former CTO had handed XRP holders a potential reason to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the blockchain company.
Schwartz said his comments reflected his personal tolerance for financial risk, not a prediction about XRP’s future. The discussion nonetheless exposed a divide in community expectations.
XRP extends decline
XRP was down 2.2% over the past 24 hours as its struggle near $1.06 continued. The asset has shed more than 18% in the past week alone.
The sell-off pushed XRP down to sixth place among cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with USDC overtaking it.
