A fresh round of questions about XRP’s decentralization recently made the rounds on social media, with users pointing to Ripple’s high-profile leadership as a potential red flag.
One user openly asked why Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is seen as the face of XRP if the asset is supposed to be decentralized – drawing a contrast to Bitcoin, which has no central figure or issuing company behind it in light of Satoshi’s disappearance.
As he usually does, Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz stepped in to respond and offer a detailed breakdown that aimed to close all speculation on this matter.
Per Schwartz, XRP does not have an issuer at all as the full supply of cryptocurrency was created at the launch of XRP Ledger, and nothing has been issued since.
Unlike other networks that use mining or other systems to release new tokens over time, XRP Ledger did not take that route – its design simply allowed anyone to claim XRP at the beginning, without competition or mining, explained the Ripple CTO.
What is decentralization for?
But besides that, Schwartz also addressed the bigger picture around decentralization, with the aim of encouraging people to think less about labels and more about what actually matters.
Instead of debating definitions, suggests the renowned cryptographer, focus on what users want a decentralized network to prevent or guarantee. From there, it becomes easier to assess how likely it is that a system could be compromised or controlled.
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The XRP-Ripple relationship has often been at the center of decentralization and control conversations, especially as the company and its executives remain visible in both the industry and regulatory discussions.
Thus, for Schwartz, the presence of a known leadership team at Ripple does not translate to centralized control over the digital asset.