Ripple CTO Drops Bombshell: ’XRP Has No Issuer’—Crypto Community Erupts

David Schwartz’s latest claim about XRP’s issuer-less design has lit a fire under the crypto world. Traders, lawyers, and blockchain purists are now locked in a heated debate over what this means for Ripple’s regulatory future.

Decentralization or loophole? The CTO’s statement cuts straight to the heart of crypto’s existential crisis. If XRP truly has no issuer, does that let Ripple off the SEC’s hook—or just prove regulators were right to call the whole industry ’creative accounting with extra steps’?

Meanwhile, XRP holders watch the charts, hoping this philosophical debate magically translates to a price pump. Some things in crypto never change.

• Ripple CTO stated that XRP has no issuer and all tokens were created at the ledger’s launch.
• He clarified that Ripple’s CEO has no control over the decentralization of the XRPL network.
• Conor McGregor questioned why XRP, ADA, and Solana were added to the US crypto reserve list.

The Ripple CTO has addressed growing concerns around XRP’s decentralization status, sparking new conversations in the crypto world. UFC icon Conor McGregor reignited interest after questioning the inclusion of XRP in the proposed US crypto reserve. His comments brought fresh attention to how XRPL functions and how it differs from other blockchains.

XRP Has No Issuer, Says Ripple CTO

The Ripple CTO responded to questions on X, asserting that XRP has no central issuer, unlike many other blockchains. He said that when the ledger was launched, all XRP tokens were created; no new ones were minted. Therefore, he concluded that the XRRL does not have features that give it controlled or rivalrous distribution.

Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple, a company. XRP has no issuer — all the XRP that will ever exist was created when the ledger was created. Unlike most other blockchains, XRPL has no rivalrous features, so the ledger itself can’t really do the initial distribution beyond letting…

He told CNBC that this special architecture prevents anyone from minting tokens or manipulating the supply of coins. Additionally, the Ripple CTO clarified that Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, does not influence XRPL’s decentralization. XRPL is a blockchain network that works independently of Ripple, he reconfirms.

This has been one of the main arguments for XRP supporters as they battle regulatory scrutiny in the United States. The Ripple CTO used the opportunity to highlight XRPL’s longstanding open participation and consensus model. McGregor is saying this as his questions put blockchain governance on the world’s radar.

Bitcoin’s Dominance Faces Scrutiny

McGregor’s doubts also included Bitcoin being the most decentralized crypto asset. For some reason, Bitcoin has always been seen as the gold standard, and everything else gets constant skepticism. This served to provoke even more debate about what criteria governments use to decide on decentralization.

Even as bitcoin is adopted widely, it is often criticized for its mining concentration and slow evolution of governance. However, these concerns do not significantly concern governments or traditional investors about Bitcoin’s credibility. The Ripple CTO’s statements have challenged this narrative by spotlighting XRP’s architecture.

“As for decentralization, he argued that the lack of a central controller for XRP meant an alternative model of decentralization to Bitcoin,” he said. 

While Bitcoin’s open-source model is praised, the Ripple CTO urged fair evaluation of all blockchains. The discussion has reopened the debate amongst crypto stakeholders and analysts.

Ethereum and the Expanding Reserve List

McGregor also belittled the idea of ethereum appearing alongside Bitcoin on the US strategic crypto reserve list. The US government first included BTC and ETH but in an amended tweet, added XRP, ADA, and Solana. Many were surprised, and this spurred price jumps and renewed scrutiny.

The Ripple CTO addressed this by calling for transparency in how these decisions are made. If decentralization is the key factor, XRP WOULD need to be evaluated with the same lens, he argued. Questions about what the federal government thought of decentralization after President Trump’s edited tweet raised concerns.

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