Ripple "must act in its own interests" when selling XRP, says Ripple CTO.
David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer at Ripple Labs, stated that the company has the right to sell XRP tokens for operational funding, saying that Ripple is not obligated to act in the interests of investors. His comments come in response to online critics of XRP, just days after U.S. President Donald Trump added the token to a planned national strategic cryptocurrency reserve.
Schwartz's comments emerged following a Wednesday post by Pierre Rochard, a vice president at Riot Platforms, who argued that XRP investors should not expect the company to prioritize them.
"XRP is not a security because Ripple does not actually owe you 'benefit' or anything else," wrote Rochard on XRP.
Schwartz, known by his online nickname "Joelkatz", seemingly agreed with Rochard's assessment. "100% correct. IMO, Ripple can, will, and must act in its own interests."
When pressed on Ripple's commitments to its shareholders, the CTO clarified that the company operates as a private entity, which must prioritize the interests of its shareholders.
The discussion surrounding Ripple's long-term strategy
The chatter on social media surrounding Ripple came just two days after blockchain sleuth Zachxbt revealed the existence of a dormant XRP wallet potentially linked to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. The wallet, reportedly inactive for over six years, contains more than 2.7 billion XRP tokens, worth approximately $7.18 billion.
On his Telegram channel, he noted that accounts linked to Larsen transferred over $109 million in XRP to exchanges in January 2025. Some members of the crypto community believe that Larsen may have lost access to the funds due to inactivity, but the revelation sparked a train of questions regarding Ripple's control over XRP, which they say could be considered a token.
One user asked CTO Schwartz whether Ripple's best strategy is to sell XRP for immediate profit or to 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.
