Ex-Ripple CTO swaps X avatar for XRPL meme coin

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus who posts on X as @JoelKatz, recently updated his profile picture to a fuzzy bear image tied to FUZZY, a meme token on the XRP Ledger.

Weeks earlier Schwartz opened a trust line for FUZZY and posted that adding the trust line was a routine technical action, not a personal endorsement. He also wrote that he found meme coin investing distasteful.

Several commentators argued the avatar change was a deliberate public gesture with no technical justification and that it made his earlier technical explanation harder to apply to the profile update.

FUZZY is a meme token inspired by the XRPL’s Fuzzybear wallet, which is known in the ledger’s history for an early decentralized exchange order. On XRPL, adding a trust line gives a wallet the technical ability to hold a given token.

Market observers noted that prices for low-liquidity meme tokens can move in response to signals from well-known figures. On thinly traded tokens, public gestures can create buying pressure. An earlier example this year involved PHNIX, where a public cue was followed by a price spike and a subsequent reversal that left later buyers with losses.

Those who defended Schwartz emphasized the distinction between technical interaction with the ledger and investment advice, and they urged that routine network operations not be treated as endorsements. Critics maintained that visible branding choices on social platforms carry different implications than back-end technical actions.

The episode prompted discussion within the XRPL community about how public figures signal interest in experimental or speculative tokens and about accepted practices for developers and former executives who remain publicly active on social platforms.