Ripple's David Schwartz recently took to Twitter to clear the air surrounding allegations made by a user on the X social media platform (formerly Twitter).
The user implied that the protocol behind the XRP cryptocurrency has a centralized design that disproportionately empowers and enriches the top 1%.
Schwartz, the CTO of the San Francisco-based blockchain behemoth, methodically refuted each claim in his lengthy response.
Elite enrichment?
Rejecting the claims of centralized enrichment, Schwartz emphasized that XRP is structured to empower anyone desiring to utilize the ledger for tracking the ownership and exchange of assets. He stated, “The top 1% of what exactly? XRP empowers anyone who wants to use the ledger…”
The Ripple exec firmly dismissed the notion that the protocol was created with a design that solely benefits the elite holders. He stressed the universality and accessibility of XRP's applications.
On the possibility of hacking XRP
In response to a question about the possibility of XRP being susceptible to hacking by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Schwartz reflected on the transparency and public nature of the ledger contents and the rules governing XRP. He mentioned, “I'm not sure what a hack of XRP would even mean… Does it mean some change to the ledger contents that doesn't follow the rules?”
He went on to elucidate that any potential bug allowing unauthorized changes would not only be a significant issue but would also be promptly fixed to prevent any recurrent exploitation.