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Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz recently revealed that he has reduced his XRP holdings from approximately 26 million tokens to 3 million. His Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings have also dropped sharply, leaving him with just one BTC and six ETH coins.
In posts on November 9 and 10, Schwartz explained that his decision to sell most of his cryptocurrencies came from his discomfort with financial risk. He also disclosed paying approximately USD 1.7 million in capital gains tax after selling millions of XRP in 2025.
Schwartz disclosed the changes to his cryptocurrency portfolio on November 10, confirming that he had reduced his holdings over the years. “It's not a secret. I think I'm down from a high of around 26 million XRP to around 3 million XRP,” Schwartz wrote.
He added that his Bitcoin holdings had declined from approximately 1,500 BTC to one BTC. Meanwhile, his Ethereum holdings fell from around 40,000 ETH to just six ETH. The disclosures followed a November 9 discussion about cryptocurrency tax notices issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Schwartz joined the discussion after another user questioned how much tax he had paid on XRP sales.
He confirmed selling approximately 2.5 million XRP in 2025, mostly from tokens he received in 2020 and 2023. Those transactions resulted in approximately USD 1.7 million in capital gains tax. However, Schwartz did not disclose the total proceeds from his cryptocurrency sales or provide dates for every transaction.
Schwartz attributed the reductions to his preference for limiting financial risk. He said he had not purchased XRP for a long time despite maintaining close ties with Ripple.
“I haven't bought XRP in a long time. I am very uncomfortable with risk and have sold nearly all of the digital assets I've ever held,” he wrote. His comments follow a July disclosure about past cryptocurrency sales. At the time, Schwartz acknowledged regretting his decisions to sell XRP near USD 0.10 and Ethereum around USD 1.
He explained that he and his wife had agreed to sell cryptocurrency whenever prices reached new record highs. Nevertheless, he maintained that his approach reflected his personal attitude toward financial risk.
Schwartz also explained how he handles XRP transactions. He said he prepares written selling plans with an attorney at least 30 days before executing trades. The arrangement aims to prevent accusations that he uses confidential information, including knowledge of potential XRP Ledger software problems, when selling tokens.
Schwartz's disclosures attracted criticism from some XRP holders as the cryptocurrency continued trading under pressure. XRP traded near USD 1.06 on November 11, following further losses.
Meanwhile, SoSoValue data showed that US spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded approximately USD 10.42 million in net outflows on November 9. Bitwise's XRP ETF accounted for nearly USD 9.4 million of those withdrawals.
Despite reducing his cryptocurrency holdings, Schwartz confirmed that he still owns a considerable amount of Ripple stock. He said those shares alone represent more financial risk than he would prefer. His remaining Ripple shares represent ownership in the company, while XRP remains a separate cryptocurrency.
Schwartz stepped away from his daily responsibilities as Ripple's chief technology officer at the end of 2025. However, he continues serving as CTO Emeritus and remains on Ripple's board of directors, according to the company's official leadership page.
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