Following Caitlin Long’s recent critique, Ripple CTO David Schwartz has proposed a fact-based discussion relating to the XRP Ledger ecosystem.
For context, during a recent episode of the Gold Goats ‘n Guns podcast, Caitlin Long, the CEO of Custodia Bank, gave a harsh assessment of XRPL, its native token, and Ripple.
“Banks Don’t Trust XRPL,” Caitlin Says
A major part of Long’s criticism hinges on the XRPL architecture being supposedly centralized. She claimed that banks are suspicious of the network and have stayed away from it.
The Custodia Bank CEO also suggested that Ripple raised huge funds upfront through an ICO, undermining trust. Meanwhile, Long emphasized that Bitcoin and Ethereum only raised a little money upfront. Moreover, she claimed that the XRPL has not made significant progress over the years.
Her comments come amid Ripple’s latest push to obtain a National Bank Charter and a Fed master account for its stablecoin RLUSD. Long believes Ripple’s decision to become a regulated financial institution and issue a stablecoin is a tacit admission that the XRP Ledger is never going to replace SWIFT.
The Custodia Bank CEO speculated that if the U.S. Treasury decides to tokenize T-Bills, it will choose a “mature and permissionless platform” like Ethereum rather than the XRPL.
Ripple CTO Proposes Discussion with Caitlin
Meanwhile, members of the XRP community came out to refute Long’s claims. Joining the conversation, Ripple CTO David Schwartz offered to discuss the facts about the company, RLUSD, XRPL, and its native token.
“I’m available to discuss the facts about Ripple, RLUSD, the XRP Ledger, and XRP,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz seeks to address Caitlin Long’s centralized claims while also providing clarity on XRP’s tokenomics. Meanwhile, he called her attention to some basic facts provided by prominent community figure Vet.
@CaitlinLong_, I’m available whenever you want to chat about the facts about Ripple, our stablecoin RLUSD, the XRP Ledger and its native token XRP. @Vet_X0 started with some basic ones above ^
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) August 6, 2025
Addressing Misconceptions About XRP and XRPL
Notably, Vet addressed some misconceptions in Long’s recent critique. First, he emphasized that Ripple never conducted an ICO, noting that the entire 100 billion XRP supply was deposited into a genesis account during the launch of XRPL.
However, Ethereum launched through an ICO, with initial investors paying Bitcoin in exchange for ETH.
Contrary to Long’s centralization claims, Vet stressed the XRP Ledger is decentralized, with several individuals running up to 1,000 nodes on the network.
He also said Ripple uses the XRPL and has already launched its stablecoin on the blockchain. Finally, Vet highlighted that the XRP Ledger has made significant progress over the years, enhancing its functionalities via amendments.
Mickle, another notable voice in the XRP community, also shared a similar sentiment. He pointed out that the XRPL team created the network before XRP was sold and that Ethereum conducted the first ICO in crypto history.
Despite the community’s pushback, Caitlin’s critique echoes the same views shared by a faction of the crypto community, including Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, who believes the XRPL and XRP are centralized.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
