In a recent tweet on X, Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz sheds light on his role in Ripple at its inception as well as his $XRP compensation.
Schwartz had shared a screenshot that apparently contained a description of various participants in Ripple, including the $XRP they were gifted at the company’s inception.
A participant, “cryptographer 1,” was described as “a Californian resident who served as Ripple’s chief cryptographer until July 2018 and is currently Ripple’s chief technology officer.”
Reacting to this, Schwartz said: “These are pretty funny. I’m actually wearing a cryptographer-1 shirt right now.”
I’m not generally considered a founder of Ripple and did not receive any $XRP as compensation until much, much later.
— David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 2, 2026
An X user asked Schwartz why the other two founders’ $XRP compensation was disclosed while his was left out. Schwartz responded, saying: “I’m not generally considered a founder of Ripple and did not receive any $XRP as compensation until much, much later.”
$XRP ledger and Ripple history
In 2011, three engineers, David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto, set out to develop the $XRP Ledger. Fascinated by Bitcoin, they intended to create a better version that improved upon its limitations with the aim of creating a digital asset that was more sustainable and built specifically for payments.
The $XRP Ledger first launched in June 2012. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by Chris Larsen, and the group started the Company NewCoin in September 2012 (quickly renamed OpenCoin and now Ripple).
Ripple’s Cryptographer 1?
While acknowledged as one of the original architects of the $XRP Ledger, this is not the case with Ripple, as Schwartz suggests he is generally not regarded as a founder.
Schwartz was part of the team that began Ripple but not as a founder; neither did he receive $XRP at the start but much later.
“I’m not generally considered a founder of Ripple and did not receive any $XRP as compensation until much, much later,” Schwartz stated.
Schwartz originally joined Ripple (then known as OpenCoin) as its Chief Cryptographer before becoming its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2018. In late 2025, Schwartz stepped down from the CTO role and transitioned to becoming the CTO emeritus.
