Ripple CTO Challenges Caitlin Long’s XRP Criticism with Open Invitation

Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long recently made sharp remarks about Ripple, XRP, and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) during an episode of the Gold Goats ‘n Guns podcast. She argued that XRPL operates as a centralized network and claimed that banks remain skeptical of it. According to Long, this supposed centralization has discouraged institutional adoption.

Long also alleged that Ripple raised large sums through an initial coin offering (ICO), which she says damaged trust. In contrast, she noted that Bitcoin and Ethereum raised only modest amounts during their early stages. Furthermore, she stated that XRPL has not shown significant development over the years.

Long Questions Ripple’s Stablecoin Plans

In her criticism, Long pointed to Ripple’s recent move to obtain a National Bank Charter and a Federal Reserve master account for its stablecoin, RLUSD. She interpreted this effort as Ripple acknowledging that XRPL cannot replace the SWIFT system. Long suggested that if the U.S. Treasury ever tokenizes T-Bills, it will prefer a “mature and permissionless” blockchain like Ethereum over XRPL.

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, responded to Long’s claims by inviting her to a fact-based discussion. “I’m available to discuss the facts about Ripple, RLUSD, the XRP Ledger, and XRP,” Schwartz said, aiming to clarify the misinformation.

Community Members Defend XRPL

Prominent XRP community member Vet directly addressed Long’s claims. He clarified that Ripple never conducted an ICO. Instead, the full 100 billion XRP supply was pre-mined and stored in a genesis account at launch. Vet also reminded the community that Ethereum launched through an ICO, where early investors paid in Bitcoin.

Related article: Top Ripple Engineer Calms XRP Community Amid XRPL Rust Rewrite Plans

In response to the centralization claims, Vet highlighted that XRPL remains decentralized. He noted that up to 1,000 independent nodes currently run on the network. Moreover, Ripple actively uses XRPL and has already issued its RLUSD stablecoin on the blockchain.

Vet emphasized that XRPL continues to grow. Over the years, it has added new features and improvements through various amendments. Another key figure, Mickle, echoed these points. He reiterated that the XRPL team built the ledger before XRP sales began. He also pointed out that Ethereum, not Ripple, was the first project to launch an ICO. Despite the XRP community’s rebuttals, Long’s views align with others in the crypto space, including Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, who has also labeled XRPL and XRP as centralized platforms.