David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer Emeritus at Ripple and one of the early architects of the XRP Ledger, stated that the long-term health of the XRP Ledger depends on attracting more independent participants so that it does not ultimately serve only Ripple.
Schwartz stated in an interview that this interview was conducted in connection with Evernorth’s listing on Nasdaq. He said that new participants like XRP Treasury companies can help mitigate risks that even well-intentioned builders might face. Schwartz serves as a strategic advisor to Evernorth and is a member of its board.
Key points:
- Schwartz believes that the governance of the XRP Ledger needs more voices, so the network isn't seen as merely a tool serving Ripple's interests.
- He believes there is no significant technological gap that would prevent banks or asset management companies from using the network.
- The real barriers lie in liquidity, deposit and withdrawal channels, and connecting ledgers with existing financial systems.
Governance reminder from the ledger co-creators
Schwartz said that most technical issues with the XRP Ledger have been resolved. The harder question today is: whose needs should this ledger serve?
“You can build a blockchain that does one thing, or you can build a blockchain that does something else,” he said. “The key is figuring out what problem it should be used to solve.”
He said a dominant company might get this wrong. "Even if your intentions are the best, it's easy to convince yourself that what's good for you is good for everyone," he noted.
Schwartz said that Evernorth plans to operate validation nodes and participate in ledger development, which adds the necessary diversity. He emphasized that this is important because it affects whether people will adopt the XRP Ledger and be confident that it “will not become a tool serving only Ripple’s interests.”
Going to the moon is a solved problem.
Schwartz uses a space analogy to describe the position of the XRP Ledger. He notes that humans landed on the Moon over 50 years ago, so the technology has been proven feasible. Yet even today, actually going to the Moon remains difficult.
"Being technically excellent is not enough to make it useful in the real world," he said.
He believes that liquidity provision and deposit/withdrawal channels are the most beneficial areas for the ledger, as well as the riskiest. Regulation was once a major obstacle, but he says these "headwinds have now become tailwinds."
Borrowing is now live, but DeFi is not yet connected.
Schwartz stated that the native lending feature on the XRP Ledger is now live; what's missing is integration with the broader DeFi ecosystem.
He said that most activities today are focused on the tokenization of real-world assets, which he calls "essential infrastructure." The next step is to enable people to move funds in and out of these assets, as well as to borrow, lend, and manage their positions. "People need to be able to borrow money. They need access to sound investments," he said.
He added that holding XRP on a company's balance sheet would be "very challenging" without an上市载体 like Evernorth.
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