David Schwartz, CTO Emeritus at Ripple and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, admitted on July 21, 2026 that he sold his XRP at $0.10 and Ethereum at approximately $1 — decisions driven not by a lack of conviction in crypto, but by a standing agreement with his wife to reduce exposure at every new all-time high, and a genuine aversion to financial risk.

What Schwartz Said

"Obviously, I wish I hadn't done those things," Schwartz stated, referring to his early sales. He explained the reasoning directly: "But I agreed with my wife to sell at every new ATH and I really, really hate risk. I wish I was more comfortable with risk, but I'm just not that person."

Schwartz previously disclosed that he had sold Ethereum because he considered extreme price predictions unlikely at the time. "If I had thought there was a 1% chance of it hitting $2,368, I would not have sold it for $1.05," he said in an earlier statement. His framework was probability-weighted — not a failure of belief, but a conservative application of expected value under uncertainty.

Peak Holdings: 26 Million XRP

At his peak, Schwartz held approximately 26 million XRP. At the current price of $1.15, that position would be worth approximately $29.9 million. At XRP's all-time high near $3.84, it would have represented roughly $99.8 million. He has since confirmed he "does not have much left anymore" after systematically reducing exposure over multiple years.

"I don't have that much left anymore," Schwartz said. "I've tried to get most of my assets (other than Ripple stock) away from crypto exposure." In April 2026, he confirmed that most of his remaining cryptocurrency holdings had been sold.

The Broader Context

Schwartz's disclosure is notable because it comes from someone with asymmetric inside knowledge of XRP's technical development and institutional trajectory. He built the XRPL. His decision to exit was explicitly about personal risk tolerance — not about the technology, the institutional adoption path, or XRP's utility as a settlement asset. That distinction matters when interpreting the statement.

"I fully recognize that crypto may be a once-in-a-generation chance to get rich that we have not missed yet and that may mean that I miss a lot of it," Schwartz acknowledged. The regret is personal and financial — not a technical or institutional critique of XRP.

For background on XRP's current institutional trajectory and ETF custody data, see Q2 2026 XRP ETF 13F wave coverage.

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