Arthur Britto, the mysterious co-founder of Ripple, posted his first public message since helping to create the blockchain-focused company in 2011.
Britto posted on X on Monday for the first time since he created the account in August 2011, sharing an emoji of a face without a mouth, which typically indicates that one cannot speak, but whose meaning may vary.
Ripple's other co-founder, David Schwartz, confirmed on X that the post on Britto's account "was not a hack".
Why is Arthur Britto known?
Along with Schwartz and the founder of Mt. Gox, Jed McCaleb, Britto created the XRP Ledger, launched in 2012, and later helped add the blockchain token, $XRP . He also co-founded NewCoin along with Schwartz, McCaleb, and Chris Larsen, which later became known as OpenCoin before finally changing its name to Ripple Labs. He then took on the role of advisor.
Probably, Britto is best known for being a "ghost," as there are no verified photographs of him, he has never given an interview or made public statements (aside from his post with emojis), and he apparently does everything possible to stay out of the spotlight.
He is also listed as founder and president of the blockchain infrastructure company PolySign. The commercial documents of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp included Britto as a director in May 2014, before he was removed in September 2015.
Britto's name appears in documents of various court cases in the United States, including the Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against Ripple Labs, but only to mention that he was a co-founder of XRP.
He also sued McCaleb in a California court in 2015, alleging breach of contract by McCaleb in the founding of Stellar, which he claimed copied Ripple's code.
Britto is real and is "very reserved"
Britto's elusiveness has led to conspiracy theories claiming he does not exist, but many have confirmed he is real and prefers to maintain his privacy.
"He is an independent and distinct human being by right. But he is very reserved," Schwartz said in a November post when asked about Britto.
