Ripple Labs’ chief technology officer David Schwartz said the company has the right to sell XRP tokens for operational funding, saying Ripple is under no obligation to act in the best interests of investors. Responding to online critics of XRP, his comments come days after US President Donald Trump added the token to a planned National Strategic Crypto Reserve.
Schwartz’s comments come on the heels of a Wednesday post by Pierre Rochard, vice president at Riot Platforms, who argued that XRP investors shouldn’t expect the company to put them first.
“XRP is not a security because Ripple doesn’t actually owe you ‘interest’ or anything else,” Rochard wrote on XRP
Schwartz, known by his online nickname "Joelkatz," apparently agreed with Rochard's assessment. "100% correct. IMO, Ripple can, will, and should act in its own best interest."
When pressed on Ripple’s commitments to its shareholders, the CTO explained that the company operates as a private corporation, which has to prioritize shareholder interests.
Ripple's Long-Term Strategy Discussion
The social media chatter surrounding Ripple comes just two days after blockchain security sleuth Zachxbt revealed the existence of a dormant XRP wallet potentially linked to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. The wallet, which has been inactive for over six years, reportedly holds over 2.7 billion XRP tokens, worth around $7.18 billion.
On his Telegram channel, he noted that accounts linked to Larsen had moved more than $109 million worth of XRP to exchanges in January 2025. Some in the crypto community believe Larsen may have lost access to the funds due to his dormancy, but the revelation has started a train of questions about Ripple’s control over XRP, which they say could be considered a token.
One user asked CTO Shwartz whether the best strategy for Ripple was to sell XRP for immediate profit or stay in the crypto market for long-term viability. The user suggested that maintaining a stable price would allow the token to handle larger transactions more efficiently.
