Ex-Ripple CTO David Schwartz disputes XRP's gas role as major price driver
In brief
- Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz disputed on X that XRP's XRPL gas role is a major price driver.
- Schwartz pointed to a November 2025 post tying XRP's value to XRPL adoption.
- XRP traded near $1.09, down more than 12% over seven days, per U.Today.
- Schwartz has said his own influence on XRP's market price is very small.
What Schwartz said
Schwartz took to the X social media platform to push back on the notion that XRP's use for transaction fees on the XRPL is a big factor in where the token trades. He didn't hedge much.
"I don't think anybody who knows anything has said that the use of XRP as gas will be a major driver of the price of XRP," Schwartz wrote.
The remark came in the middle of a broader debate about XRP's poor price performance and where the token fits in Ripple's ecosystem, U.Today reported.
The adoption argument
Instead of fees, Schwartz pointed readers to a post from November 2025 explaining how mass adoption of the XRP Ledger could lead to greater value for XRP. In it, he said increased use and adoption of XRPL would add value to XRP through its "privileged place on the ledger." He listed several properties to back that up (no counterparty risk, the fact that it's jurisdictionless, and XRP's privileged place in the network's autobridging features).
Schwartz argued it's hard to picture a world where XRPL succeeds at mass scale and XRP doesn't capture a good fraction of that value.
Those are his views, not a price forecast.
He'd also said earlier that the ledger wasn't created with the sole intent of pushing XRP's price higher. The original goal, per U.Today, was a fast, cheap payment system with a native digital asset and a decentralized exchange.
Holders under pressure
U.Today described frustration among XRP holders over the token's performance as rising. The outlet put XRP at around $1.09 as of Monday, down more than 12% over the previous seven days.
Schwartz hasn't claimed he can change that. He recently acknowledged that his influence on XRP's market price is very small, and in another exchange with critics he wrote that he probably had nothing, or very little, to do with the price of XRP.
Frequently asked questions
Does David Schwartz think XRP's use as gas drives its price?
No. In posts on X reported by U.Today, the former Ripple CTO wrote that he didn't think anybody knowledgeable had said XRP's use as gas on the XRP Ledger would be a major driver of its price.
What does Schwartz say could add value to XRP?
Schwartz pointed to a November 2025 post in which he said increased use and adoption of the XRP Ledger would add value to XRP through its privileged place on the ledger. He cited its lack of counterparty risk, its jurisdictionless nature and its role in the network's autobridging features. These are his views, not a price forecast.
