Ex-Ripple CTO: XRP Earned More Than BTC or ETH

David Schwartz, former chief technology officer at Ripple, wrote on X on May 12, 2026 that XRP generated more personal wealth for him than Bitcoin or Ether. He disclosed he once held roughly 26 million XRP, about 1,000 Bitcoin and 40,000 Ether and that he has sharply reduced those positions over time.

Schwartz helped design the XRP Ledger and stepped down from the CTO role earlier this year. He said his early co-founder allocation of XRP, even after years of gradual selling, produced larger lifetime returns than his holdings in Bitcoin or Ethereum. In a brief post he wrote, “XRP by far.”

XRP reached an all-time high of $3.65 in July 2025 and trades near $1.46 at present, ranking fourth by market value. Schwartz said the token’s prolonged price rise produced multi-million-dollar gains on his founding stake despite ongoing sales.

He acknowledged selling his Ethereum at roughly $1.05 per token and expressed regret after ETH later traded thousands of dollars higher. His Bitcoin holdings followed a similar pattern: he reduced his position from about 1,000 BTC to fewer than one well before Bitcoin reached six figures. Schwartz has described himself as risk-averse and has favored locking in gains over holding for larger future moves.

Schwartz described a personal paradox: several of his major crypto bets performed far better than he expected, yet he still struggles with taking risk. He wrote he would tell a younger version of himself to take more risk in crypto but added that his younger self would likely have ignored that advice.

He said his remaining exposure is almost entirely in XRP and in Ripple equity, which carries an estimated $40 billion private valuation. The posts provide detailed first-hand figures and timelines from one of XRP’s earliest architects.