Ex-Ripple CTO’s Shocking Thoughts on Bitcoin: Is It a Lost Cause?

by

Ah, dear reader, gather ’round! For we are about to embark upon a most peculiar tale involving David Schwartz, the former wizard of technology at Ripple, who recently poured an icy bucket of water over the fiery hopes of Bitcoin enthusiasts. With a flourish, he declared Bitcoin to be “largely a technological dead end.” Indeed, such a proclamation ricocheted through the corridors of crypto debates like a drunken goose at a village festival.

It all began on the fateful day of February 9, when a certain X user named Bram Kanstein, who I can only assume has an affinity for quarreling over historical minutiae, contended that XRP’s early “genesis reset” – a curious event where they decided to treat the 32,750th XRP block as a starting point – was akin to a declaration of centralized power. “May I present to you,” he said, “the genesis of centralized ‘CrYpTO’!” Such drama! One could almost hear the gasps of the audience.

Ex-Ripple CTO Schwartz Calls Bitcoin A ‘Tech Dead End’

But lo! Schwartz, like a knight in tarnished armor, charged into the fray with his own comparison, pulling the argument back to the ever-controversial Bitcoin. “Oh, dear friends,” he mused, “Bitcoin has had not one, but two incidents that displayed far greater centralization than this humble incident!” Such audacity! He continued, “The decision here was to make no coordinated changes and just live with it,” which, one must admit, sounds rather like the philosophy of a cat that simply refuses to move from its sunbeam.

As expected, this claim did not go unnoticed. Another inquisitive soul from X floated the idea of SegWit, suggesting it as a prime example of coordinated protocol change, perhaps hoping to elevate the discourse. Schwartz, however, was not to be outdone: “I wasn’t because I don’t really think of adding new features as showing centralization,” he retorted, with the kind of confidence usually reserved for a man wearing mismatched socks. “But I suppose one could argue otherwise. The biggest example of centralization I pondered was the grand rollback of 2010.” A round of applause, if you please!

Then, oh dear reader, the plot thickened on February 10! A brave soul by the name of Khaled Elawadi dared to pose the question: since his illustrious co-creation of the XRPL, had Schwartz considered returning to the embrace of Bitcoin? “Not really,” came the curt reply. But wait, there’s more! He proceeded to sketch an argument claiming that Bitcoin’s popularity stems less from its technological prowess and more from the social and monetary inertia. “I think bitcoin is largely a technological dead end for the same reason the dollar is,” he announced, sending ripples through the cryptocurrency pond. “The technology just doesn’t seem to matter all that much!” Oh, the irony!

For those who rally under the XRP banner, Schwartz’s words served a dual purpose: a robust defense against accusations of unique centralization in XRPL’s early history, while also serving a tasty morsel of reality regarding Bitcoin’s own mythos of laissez-faire governance. How deliciously ironic!

One cannot help but notice how firmly Schwartz draws the line, declaring that Bitcoin’s success may very well endure even if technical advancements grow stagnant, as its strength increasingly resembles that of a monetary standard rather than a mere engineering project. Meanwhile, our hero Schwartz has chosen to follow his own path, pursuing personal endeavors within the XRP Ledger after gracefully stepping down from his role as Ripple CTO.

And so, as I pen these final words, let us reflect on the current state of affairs: XRP trades at a modest $1.38, and one can only imagine the bustling marketplace where fortunes are won and lost with the flick of a digital coin!

Read More

2026-02-12 17:51