Ripple CTO David Schwartz Engages in a Spirited Debate: Ripple, XRP Ledger, and RLUSD Under Scrutiny
In a recent podcast, Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, sparked a lively discussion by voicing her criticism of Ripple, the XRP Ledger (XRPL), and its stablecoin RLUSD. Her remarks prompted immediate reactions, particularly from Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, who has invited Long to engage in a fact-based dialogue. This article explores the unfolding debate and the different perspectives it encapsulates.
Caitlin Long’s Perspective on Ripple and XRP
During an episode of the Gold Goats ‘n Guns podcast, Caitlin Long expressed her views on Ripple and XRP, comparing Ripple’s initial funding strategy to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). She argued that this approach has resulted in a lasting distrust among institutional players towards XRP. Despite Ripple’s long-standing presence in the blockchain sector, Long criticized its limited success in supplanting traditional banking systems like SWIFT.
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Long also highlighted Ripple’s decision to issue RLUSD via its own regulated financial entities, which she sees as a strategic shift away from depending solely on the XRPL for global settlements. While acknowledging the challenges posed by U.S. regulatory pressures under the Biden administration, Long remained skeptical about XRPL’s potential to become a core component of international payment systems.
Looking to the future, Long suggested that when the U.S. Treasury decides on a blockchain platform for tokenizing T-bills, Ethereum might be preferred over Ripple, attributing this to Ethereum’s advanced maturity and greater adoption.
The XRP Community’s Response
Long’s comments were met with a strong rebuttal from a prominent member of the XRP community, Vet, who countered her claims as being based on misinformation. Vet emphasized that Ripple did not conduct an ICO and that XRP was initially without value, with all 100 billion tokens created in a genesis account. He further defended the decentralization of the XRPL, referencing its network of over 1,000 nodes and more than 100 independent validators globally.
In contrast to Ripple’s approach, Vet pointed out that Ethereum commenced with an ICO. He also underscored Ripple’s persistent efforts to integrate the XRPL within its payment solutions and noted that RLUSD is indeed issued on the ledger. Vet highlighted the XRPL’s pioneering role as the first blockchain to feature a native decentralized exchange and tokenization capabilities, along with its growing business use cases and ongoing technical enhancements.
David Schwartz Calls for a Constructive Dialogue
Following the community’s response, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, addressed Caitlin Long’s assertions directly. Acknowledging the initial points raised by Vet, Schwartz extended an invitation to Long for an open conversation focused on Ripple, RLUSD, the XRPL, and XRP. This invitation underscores Ripple’s commitment to transparency and factual discourse as the debate continues to unfold.
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