David Schwartz, a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry due to his role at Ripple Labs, announced plans to “step back from [his] day-to-day duties” at the blockchain company.
In a Tuesday X post, Schwartz, known for being one of the architects of the XRP Ledger, said he would be scaling back his responsibilities at Ripple after more than 13 years at the company. The Ripple chief technology officer joined the company in 2011 as a cryptographer, moving up to become chief technology officer in 2018.
“The time has come for me to step back from my day-to-day duties as Ripple CTO at the end of this year,” said Schwartz on X. “I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the kids and grandkids and going back to the hobbies I set aside. But be warned, I’m not going away from the XRP community. You haven’t seen the last of me (now, or ever).”
According to Schwartz, he will remain at Ripple as chief technology officer emeritus — referring to an honorary title — and join the company’s board of directors. CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on X that Schwartz was a “true OG in crypto,” lauding the move.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, a Ripple spokesperson said senior vice president of engineering, Dennis Jarosch, would lead the team going forward.
Related: Ripple’s Schwartz defends low XRPL volume, says banks settle offchain
Data from the blockchain analytics platform Nansen showed that the price of XRP surged about 1.4% to $2.87 from $2.83 in the hours following Schwartz’s announcement. The token reached an all-time high price of more than $3.50 in July.
Ripple is a major player in the US and internationally
As the fourth largest token by market capitalization at about $172 billion, XRP has its own group of supporters known to many as the “XRP Army.” Ripple, as the company behind the XRP Ledger, has also grown in size and influence over the years.
Ripple, along with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, was one of the most significant contributors to a US-based political action committee (PAC) called Fairshake that could have influenced the outcome of many 2024 election races through media buys. Altogether, the company donated about $70 million to the PAC for the 2024 election and 2026 midterms.
Garlinghouse said in a 60 Minutes interview that year that he was “not sure Fairshake would exist” had the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) not pursued an enforcement case against Ripple.
The SEC’s case, filed under then-Chair Jay Clayton in December 2020, ended in March after the regulator dropped a crucial appeal.
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