Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz says he has not purchased XRP in a long time and has substantially reduced his crypto holdings, revealing that he sold approximately 2.5 million XRP in 2025 and paid about $1.7 million in capital gains tax on those sales.
The disclosure followed criticism from XRP community member Ricky (@WHTBOYRICKY), who questioned how much tax Schwartz would owe from XRP he allegedly “dumped” this year.
Schwartz clarified that the large sales he was discussing occurred in 2025, with most of the XRP having been received in 2020 and 2023.
“In 2025, I sold about 2.5 million XRP,” Schwartz said, adding that the transactions generated roughly $1.7 million in capital gains taxes.
Schwartz Uses XRP Sales Plans Set 30 Days in Advance
Schwartz also explained that his XRP sales are not decided spontaneously.
Whenever he sells XRP, he said he uses a written sales plan locked in with an attorney at least 30 days before the transaction.
The purpose is to avoid a situation where his trading could be interpreted as benefiting from information unavailable to the wider market, such as advance knowledge of an XRP Ledger vulnerability or bug.
This concern is particularly relevant given Schwartz’s position as one of the original architects of XRPL and his continued involvement in the ecosystem.
The Crypto Basic previously reported that Schwartz has defended his decision to sell XRP, arguing that selling an asset should not be viewed as morally inferior to continuing to hold it.
“I Haven’t Bought XRP in a Long Time”
Ricky then asked whether Schwartz ever purchases XRP or simply manages the tokens he already owns.
Schwartz’s answer was direct.
“I haven’t bought XRP in a long time,” he said.
He explained that he is highly uncomfortable with investment risk and has sold nearly all of the digital assets he has held over the years.
However, Schwartz has not sold all of his XRP. In a subsequent disclosure, he said his holdings have fallen from a historical high of roughly 26 million XRP to around 3 million XRP. He also disclosed reducing his Bitcoin holdings from about 1,500 BTC to 1 BTC and Ethereum holdings from approximately 40,000 ETH to six ETH.
This represents a further reduction from May, when The Crypto Basic reported that Schwartz still held more than one million XRP while having largely exited Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Schwartz Still Holds “Quite a Bit” of Ripple Stock
Despite reducing his crypto exposure, Schwartz said he continues to own “quite a bit” of Ripple stock.
Even that position exceeds the level of risk he would ideally prefer, according to Schwartz.
His comments are consistent with his long-running approach to investing. Earlier this year, Schwartz acknowledged that his conservative strategy could cause him to miss some of crypto’s biggest wealth-creation opportunities, but said he values reducing risk more than maximizing potential gains.
This distinction is important because Schwartz’s XRP sales do not necessarily represent a bearish judgment on XRP itself. His disclosures show that he has similarly sold the overwhelming majority of his Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings.
The latest discussion comes with XRP trading around $1.05, down roughly 17% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap.
Schwartz’s disclosures therefore provide a clearer picture of his personal portfolio: he has not been accumulating XRP, has steadily reduced his direct crypto exposure, still holds millions of XRP, and maintains significant exposure to Ripple through company stock.