XRPL Was Not Built to Make XRP Price Go Up: Ripple CTO
Ripple CTO David Schwartz clarified that the XRPL (XRP Ledger) was developed not to boost XRP's price, but to create an efficient, secure, and decentralized payment network. He stated that XRPL's design focuses on providing liquidity, enabling auto-bridging across assets, and ensuring sustainability through properties like scarcity and fungibility. Schwartz dismissed claims that XRPL uses middlemen or benefits validators through transaction fees, contrasting it with other blockchains reliant on smart contracts. The discussion followed a Balancer hack, linking XRPL's reliance on native features to enhanced security compared to third-party dependencies. While some community members argued Ripple's founders benefited from XRP's premine, Schwartz reiterated XRPL's unique validation process, which avoids traditional miner-style operations.
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Ripple CTO Clarifies XRPL's Purpose
David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, recently clarified that the XRPL (XRP Ledger) was not created to boost the price of XRP but to establish an efficient payment network. His remarks arose during a community discussion following the Balancer hack, which evolved into a debate on the XRPL’s design philosophy.
Community Questions on Network Security and Participation
An XRP advocate questioned Schwartz about how mechanisms like token burns or increasing institutional investments, such as a potential Grayscale XRP ETF, could bolster long-term network security and economic participation, especially with rising transaction volumes. Schwartz explained that XRPL is designed to have no ties to governments, companies, or jurisdictions, which is crucial for its auto-bridging feature. This feature connects various assets and enhances liquidity, inherently adding value to XRP as the network's usage grows.
Price Trends and XRP’s Core Strengths
Schwartz noted that short- and medium-term price trends rely more on stability and reliability than on XRP’s direct utility. He highlighted that XRP's advantages stem from being scarce, fungible, censorship-resistant, and easily transferable. However, he stressed that the original creators of XRPL, including himself, did not design it to increase XRP’s price, despite acknowledging that its adoption indirectly improves its value.
The XRPL Design Philosophy
According to Schwartz, the primary aim of XRPL is to provide a fast, low-cost, and secure infrastructure for payments and exchanges. While other Ripple executives may have differing views, Schwartz emphasized that this represents his personal perspective.
The Role of Middlemen in XRPL
Schwartz’s comments were part of a broader discussion within the XRP community. This discussion followed the Balancer hack—an Ethereum-based exploit that resulted in over $120 million in losses—and sparked conversations about relying on third-party smart contracts and intermediaries. An XRP enthusiast named xmoonkie argued that XRPL outperformed other blockchains by using native features instead of dependent third-party solutions.
Debate on XRPL’s 'Middlemen-Free' Nature
In the discussion, another XRP supporter, Dondropit, agreed, referencing Schwartz’s past statements that XRPL prevents transaction fee profiteering, making it the only blockchain devoid of middlemen. However, a critic argued that Ripple and its founders benefited from XRP’s premine and claimed that validators still act as intermediaries, similar to Bitcoin miners. In response, Schwartz explained that XRPL validators differ significantly from miners: they don't receive payments from users or decide transaction inclusions. Instead, validators collaborate to organize transactions and prevent double-spending across the network.