David Schwartz, the co-founder of the $XRP Ledger and CTO emeritus of Ripple, just broadcasted his personal view that people should not invest in Ripple.
“If you want direct exposure to Ripple’s success or failure, you can buy Ripple stock on the secondary market if you qualify under US law. But you probably shouldn’t,” he said.
He was responding to members of the crypto community who requested, “Let us have access to the Ripple stock.” Similar requests to open Ripple up for public investment have circulated for years.
Unsurprisingly, Schwartz’s public post earned tens of thousands of views within hours.
The unusually clear investment warning comes from a Ripple insider whose company once held as much as $180 billion worth of $XRP at its January 4, 2018 peak.
At founding, Ripple (then NewCoin) held 80% of the $XRP supply. Over the years, it’s steadily sold down its coins.
Forge Global, a secondary market for private investors that Charles Schwab recently acquired, first listed Ripple stock at $19.74 per share in January 2023. It peaked at $243.23 on November 6, 2025, and now trades at $116, imputing a $19 billion valuation.
Importantly, Forge Global’s valuation today is less than half the valuation claimed by Ripple itself two months ago — and certainly less than the value of its $XRP holdings at that time.
$XRP is not a Ripple investment
Ripple has never conducted an initial public offering, and there’s no public stock price on which to base a valuation of its equity.
Nonetheless, because Ripple has historically controlled such a disproportionate percentage of the supply of $XRP, many retail investors mistakenly bought $XRP as a proxy bet on Ripple’s success.
Periodically, the company discloses a fundraising round with a headline valuation number with few details as to what obligations or considerations went into the valuation.
Conveniently, the valuation of Ripple has broadly tracked the value of its $XRP holdings. Its valuation, most recently near $50 billion in March, roughly equaled its $XRP holdings at the time.
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Alongside Arthur Britto, Schwartz co-created the $XRP Ledger in June 2012 and received equity in the company now known as Ripple that incubated its development.
As one of its largest shareholders, Schwartz’s view about whether a general member of the public should invest in Ripple certainly carries weight.
Schwartz has admitted that nowadays, after selling most of his $XRP years ago, his current equity in Ripple is almost all of his crypto investment exposure on a personal basis.
Protos previously reported that Schwartz became CTO emeritus and joined Ripple’s board once his corporate tenure exceeded 13 years.
