Recently social media postsRipple’s chief technology officer (CTO) David Schwartz revealed that the creation of the escrow actually prevented Ripple from selling as much XRP as it wanted.
“Before escrow was introduced, Ripple could have sold as much XRP as they wanted each month.”
Before escrow was introduced, Ripple could have sold as much XRP as they wanted each month. And I opposed the decision to introduce escrow precisely because I didn’t see enough benefit to justify giving up that flexibility.
— David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 25, 2025
This comes after users said Schwartz established a Ripple escrow system that systematically released 1 billion XRP into the market every month to “fund his career” at the expense of retail investors.
Protect Mr. Musk’s taxes
The conversation begins with a defense of Elon Musk, moves into an attack on Ripple’s XRP sales, and culminates in a startling revelation about Ripple’s famous escrow history.
The conversation begins with Schwartz correcting common misconceptions about millionaires and taxes.
The critic argues that Musk’s lower tax rate (1.43%) is because it compares his tax bill ($10 billion) to his total assets ($700 billion).
However, you are taxed on what you earn or sell, not what you own. If Musk doesn’t sell the stock, the money is still not “earned” for tax purposes. Therefore, unrealized gains cannot be taxed in the same way as cash in a bank account.
surprise
In 2017, Ripple locked 55 billion XRP in a series of escrows and released 1 billion every month. This was promoted as a way to bring predictability and certainty to investors.
Escrow was a restriction. Before 2017, Ripple totaled access I could have sold it to their holdings. more 1 billion or more per month if you wish.
Mr. Schwartz revealed that he actually voted against escrow. why? He valued operational flexibility. He didn’t think the “up” was worth the “down” (Ripple losing its ability to freely access capital). This contradicts the narrative that Ripple executives love escrow.
Additionally, the Ripple CTO stated that traders are already adjusting the price of XRP today to account for future sales.
“And if you think about it, everything that people know is going to happen and expects to happen should already be baked into the current price,” he said.
