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Ripple CTO David Schwartz suggests that Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, held an enormous amount of XRP.
Schwartz made the claim in his 2021 deposition in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit. During the deposition, the Ripple CTO suggested that the Bitcoin creator probably held a huge amount of XRP in 2017.
Satoshi Probably Holds XRP
According to him, while the Ripple team was focused on building a payment system around XRP, no similar effort was made for Bitcoin (BTC). He pointed out that Ripple’s ‘control of XRP’ gives the company an advantage over its competitors.
When asked whether Ripple’s ‘control of XRP’ differentiates the coin from BTC, he acknowledged the difficulty in tracking Bitcoin-related distribution. Nonetheless, he said:
“Satoshi, the original Bitcoin creator, probably held an enormous amount of XRP at the time [2017].”
Documenting Ripple, an X handle focused on documenting Ripple’s history, shared an excerpt of Schwartz’s deposition on X.
BREAKING: ACCORDING TO DAVID SCHWARTZ IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT SATOSHI HIMSELF HELD VERY LARGE AMOUNTS OF XRP. THIS WAS SAID UNPROVOKED UNDER DEPOSITION. pic.twitter.com/8gknGXj8Og
— Documenting Ripple 📚📜 (@RippleArchive) June 19, 2024
Is Schwartz Satoshi Nakamoto?
Schwartz’s suggestion could further elicit speculations about him being the face behind the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator. Several events have triggered this speculation over the years, with his suggestion about Satoshi Nakamoto’s XRP holding likely to stoke it further.
Another event that made many speculate that Schwartz could be the face behind Satoshi Nakamoto is the coincidence between the initial development of XRP Ledger’s (XRPL) and Satoshi Nakamoto’s exit from Bitcoin.
Also, Nakamoto revealed plans to move on to other things in 2011, which coincided with the year Schwartz announced his interest in exploring new endeavors.
Interestingly, Schwartz, alongside Arthur Britto and Jed McCaleb, commenced the development of XRPL. Following XRPL’s launch in 2012, which also coincided with Ripple’s debut, the company adopted it as a blockchain solution.
Moreover, Satoshi Nakamoto praised Ripple for building a reliable system that does not prioritize centralization. Nonetheless, his admiration was directed at the original 2004 Ripple concept by Ryan Fugger.
Additionally, Satoshi Nakamoto shared the pre-released version of the Bitcoin code on November 16, 2009, a date that coincided with Schwartz’s birthday.
It bears mentioning that these events, including Schwartz’s disclosure about Satoshi Nakamoto’s enormous XRP holding, do not confirm that the Ripple CTO is the face behind Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator.