Former Ripple CTO Ends Speculation on His Bitcoin and Ethereum Investments

u.today 2 h

Finance

David Schwartz, known as one of the original $XRP Ledger architects and the cryptographic brain behind Ripple, has finally set the record straight on the two trades that the crypto $XRP community will not stop mocking him for — dumping 40,000 $ETH at $1.05 and exiting nearly all of his Bitcoin before it crossed $7,500.

He confirmed that he had sold the entirety of his 40,000 $ETH stash when the token was trading at just $1.05. As for Bitcoin, Schwartz said he could not recall the exact breakdown but is confident he offloaded almost all of it before the price reached $7,500 — most likely even before it touched $1,000.

I sold all my $ETH at $1.05. I'm not sure what fraction of my bitcoin I sold at what prices, but I'm pretty sure I sold nearly all of it by $7,500 and probably most of it by $1,000.

I was just as successful as I tried to be. There might be a lesson in there.

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— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) February 1, 2026

That is not the kind of story one shares to earn praise in crypto circles, but Schwartz was not aiming for that.

No financial advice from Ripple's Schwartz

This information comes with a "this is not financial advice"-type disclaimer.

Due to extreme market conditions, call it "crypto winter" or whatever — and with $XRP experiencing the sell-off too — Schwartz probably decided to warn his followers and the $XRP community not to blindly follow and fall for any advice seen on social media right now about the investments.

Although the former Ripple CTO never shares direct price information, he sometimes engages with the X audience by providing puzzles, hints and clues. Not because they have something behind them, but just to mess with the conspiracy theorists who are trying to find meaning where there is none.

The lesson is that not every early crypto adopter becomes a billionaire. Some built the technology, missed out on the huge profits and still walked away as pioneers. Schwartz chose to remind the world that timing the market is harder than building the technology.