Ripple CTO Ends Speculation on XRP Distribution: Details

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Unraveling the Ripple Riddle: Did They Really Gift 80 Billion XRP? 🤔💸

In the halcyon days of early 2011, three intrepid developers—David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto—found themselves irresistibly drawn to the siren call of Bitcoin. Yet, they were not blind to the environmental carnage wrought by mining. Thus, with the noble aim of crafting a more sustainable method of value transmission, they set forth on their digital odyssey. By June 2012, their code was polished to a sheen, and the ledger was primed for action.

According to the hallowed annals of the official XRPL website, once the XRP Ledger sprang to life, a staggering 80% of XRP was bestowed upon a fledgling enterprise known as NewCoin, which had grand designs to cultivate use cases for this digital marvel. One can only imagine the celebratory toasts that accompanied such a generous distribution—perhaps with a side of irony?

Not long after, the illustrious Chris Larsen joined the fray, and the company was birthed in September 2012, initially dubbed NewCoin, but swiftly rebranded as OpenCoin, and now, in a fit of corporate identity crisis, Ripple. The founders, in a fit of magnanimity, contributed a whopping 80 billion XRP to Ripple, which has since taken the prudent step of placing the majority in escrow—because who doesn’t love a good safety net?

Amidst this backdrop of benevolence and corporate maneuvering, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, has taken it upon himself to address the swirling mists of speculation surrounding the XRP Ledger and its distribution. A true knight in digital armor!

Ripple CTO Addresses Speculation

As previously noted, a staggering 80% of the XRP supply was indeed gifted to OpenCoin, now known as Ripple, following the grand unveiling of the XRP Ledger. Schwartz, ever the diplomat, responded to an inquisitive X user who lamented that “fair and equal distribution doesn’t need to be an afterthought.” He quipped, “I don’t see anything unfair about the people who created something keeping as much of the value as a free market will give them.” Ah, the sweet taste of free-market capitalism!

I don’t see anything unfair about the people who created something keeping as much of the value as a free market will give them. Using consensus in an adversarial way has fundamental trade-offs and what makes XRPL different is that it doesn’t do that.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) March 9, 2025

Another inquisitive soul on X posed the question: “Unless OpenCoin collapsed, which was founded after the XRP Ledger was created, correct? But why did the plan to gift it to a company or entity for distribution come so late and not when the project was being drafted? It’s a natural thought process step, I’d guess.” A fair point, indeed!

Schwartz, perhaps channeling the spirit of Socrates, replied, “I don’t trust my memory on this and I don’t have very good records. I wasn’t all that involved in the initial distribution. We know from the ledger agreement that the distribution was agreed to on or before September 17, 2012.” He then graciously shared the agreement signed at the time, as if to say, “See? I’m not making this up!”

In a further twist, Schwartz revealed that the Genesis wallet was nearly barren, containing a mere 200.999 XRP as of the earliest known ledger. One can only imagine the frantic search for loose change!

As for the XRPL, Schwartz noted that despite some rather dramatic changes in late December 2012, validations didn’t “really” kick into gear until January 2013. A classic case of better late than never, one might say!

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2025-03-10 16:43