Ripple CTO Speaks on Allegations that Ripple Paid Coinbase to List XRP

The allegations that Ripple offered Coinbase money to have XRP listed first came to light as far back as April 2018.

David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, recently commented on the allegations that Ripple paid Coinbase to have XRP listed on its platform. The accusations, which sprang up in 2018 in a Bloomberg report, were recently reignited following Judge Torres’ latest ruling on the Ripple vs. SEC case.

ScamDetective, an anonymous yet self-acclaimed on-chain scam detector, recently asked for information on how much Ripple paid Coinbase to have XRP listed. While others have directly dismissed the question as invalid, stressing that there was no payment, Schwartz’s response left room for speculation.

“The story of Coinbase listing XRP is the only story I most wish I could tell that I can’t,” the CTO of Ripple replied. 

The story of Coinbase listing XRP is the only story I most wish I could tell that I can't.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 17, 2023

The reply elicited reactions from the crypto community, but Schwartz has refused to divulge any further information on the matter. Some proponents argue that Schwartz’s statement implies that there is a hidden narrative or undisclosed information regarding the listing of XRP on Coinbase.

Notably, Bloomberg first propagated these allegations in an article dated April 2018. The article alleged that Ripple offered $1 million to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of the American exchange Gemini, to have XRP listed on Gemini. In addition, the Bloomberg report also claimed that Ripple offered Coinbase $100 million for the exchange to list XRP. The report cited anonymous sources.

The Re-emergence of the Claims

It bears mentioning that, in February 2019, Miguel Vias, who served as Ripple’s Head of XRP Markets at the time, categorically debunked these claims when they were reignited that year.

“We’re happy to go on the record. Coinbase’s listing of XRP (also, not “our token”) was Coinbase’s independent decision – we did not give them anything to make it happen,” Vias disclosed in a tweet on Feb. 27, 2019.

Vias’ comments came on the back of an email from Elliott Suthers, Coinbase’s Communication Director. Alistair Milner, the CIO of Altana Digital Currency Fund, asked Suthers how much Ripple paid Coinbase to list XRP. In response, Suthers refused to make any public disclosures or discuss the matter on the record.

The allegations had died a natural death since Vias’ rebuttal, but they resurfaced following Judge Torres’ latest rulings in the SEC case. Notably, as part of the rulings, the district judge recently denied Ripple’s motion to conceal the amount of compensation it “offered to trade platforms to list XRP.”