Ripple’s CTO Chooses Ripple Shares Over XRP: An Inside Look
Qadir AK19 Jan 20242 min read
XRP’s price is on the rise, and Ripple, despite past legal challenges, seems set for a positive turn, especially with hopes of a Bitcoin ETF approval. In a recent talk, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, shared some inside info.
Ripple CTO Shares His Bold Investment Moves
David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), has made his bold choices public via his X post, he is drooling over Ripple shares more than XRP. But before that let’s analyse the real cause behind the move.
Looking at the stats, Ripple boasts a substantial 46.55 billion XRP, accounting for about 46.5% of the total supply. And if you Break it down, they have 5.258 billion XRP ready for use and 41.3 billion XRP securely locked away, with a monthly release and relock mechanism in place, releasing and locking up a billion tokens each month.
Plus, Ripple sold almost 892 million XRP in the Q3 2023 report, causing a grave concern that these sales might be impacting XRP prices negatively. Some in the community have suggested a bold move—getting rid of Ripple’s escrow balance. However, Schwartz clarified that it’s not a straightforward decision. He outlined two primary choices: holding onto the XRP or systematically selling it off, emphasizing the company’s goal to swiftly reduce its holdings.
In December, Ripple made news when it sold a huge amount of XRP tokens, 238 million of them, for $142 million. As Coinpedia News already reported, this amount is three times what Ripple usually sells each month. Such a big jump naturally led to conversations in the Bitcoin community and questions about Ripple’s plan.
That’s why when the idea of burning the escrow was raised, Schwartz expressed skepticism, stating it wouldn’t bring any tangible benefits.
CTO Crossover Could Hurt XRP?
After promoting the XRP ledger game. Schwartz recently said that he chose Ripple shares over XRP. Nevertheless, he also said he wasn’t sure if it was the right choice. Later, he thought that his holdings might be more flexible now if he had picked XRP. Currently, Ripple’s shares are worth about $11.3 billion, and the company wants to buy them back for $285 million. Furthermore, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, made it clear that the company has no quick plans for an initial public offering (IPO).
