Ripple Veteran Schwartz Defends Massive XRP Sell-Off While Weighing Bitcoin Flip
Key Summary
Ripple co-creator David Schwartz defended liquidating 2.5 million XRP tokens after disclosing a $1.7M capital gains tax bill. Despite reducing his personal holdings down to 2 million tokens, the veteran developer argued that XRP could eventually surpass Bitcoin in total market capitalization.
Key Bullets
- Ripple co-creator David Schwartz offloaded 2.5 million XRP tokens in 2025, triggering a $1.7 million capital gains tax liability.
- On-chain transaction history confirms his token balance dropped from 26 million XRP down to approximately 2 million tokens by August 2026.
- Schwartz liquidated early holdings at $0.10 while admitting past regrets over selling 40,000 ETH for $1.05 apiece.
- September market metrics placed XRP near a $90 billion valuation while Bitcoin traded near $1.57 trillion.
Schwartz Defends 2.5 Million XRP Sell-Off
Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz liquidated 2.5 million XRP tokens throughout 2025 according to public social media disclosures and personal tax filings. Critics questioned his long-term conviction after tracking his declining wallet balances. Schwartz responded directly by publishing evidence of a $1.7M capital gains tax bill stemming from those exact disposals. Most of the sold assets originated from performance bonuses allocated back in 2020 and 2023.
His personal holdings peaked at 26 million tokens before sliding to roughly 2 million tokens by August 2026. The developer noted that his risk mitigation strategy involved trimming exposure whenever investments hit new highs. That methodical unloading began when XRP traded around $0.10. He never expected the token to cross $0.25.
Weighing XRP Against Bitcoin Valuations
Selling millions of tokens did not stop Schwartz from endorsing an ambitious market hypothesis during a public audio discussion. He agreed that XRP could eventually surpass Bitcoin in total market capitalization. Achieving parity requires XRP to outpace Bitcoin growth rather than demanding a catastrophic collapse from the leading cryptocurrency. September valuations showed XRP hovering near $90B while Bitcoin commanded $1.57T.
Surpassing Bitcoin requires an approximate token valuation of $25 based on those historical ratios. Schwartz stopped short of issuing a firm price target or setting any definitive calendar timeline. The valuation gap remains massive. Market observers must weigh institutional settlement utility against Bitcoin's decentralized monetary foundation.
Diverging Infrastructure And Settlement Models
Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in October 2008 as a peer-to-peer electronic cash network designed to bypass trusted banking intermediaries. The genesis block famously embedded a London Times headline about bank bailouts to cement its anti-establishment ethos. XRP operates on a completely different architectural standard. The XRP Ledger utilizes a validator-backed consensus mechanism geared specifically toward rapid institutional cross-border settlements.
Capital continues flowing into alternative scaling solutions trying to combine Bitcoin security with high-speed transaction environments. Projects such as the Solana Virtual Machine bridge are attempting to expand smart contract utility directly onto Bitcoin Layer 1 rails. Network usage and liquidity will dictate whether those scaling experiments succeed.
Impact score:2 out of 5 | Narrative Tracker:Corporate Treasuries & Institutional Adoption
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