At the XRP Las Vegas event held from April 30 to May 1, 2026, Ripple CTO emeritus David Schwartz shared early stories of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and a new vision for integrating artificial intelligence into the network. Schwartz, one of the original architects of XRPL alongside Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto, recounted how the trio began developing the ledger in 2011, inspired by Bitcoin but aiming to create a more sustainable and payment-focused digital asset. The XRP Ledger launched in June 2012, and shortly after, Schwartz, McCaleb, Britto, and Chris Larsen founded NewCoin (later renamed OpenCoin and eventually Ripple) in September 2012.
AI Breakthrough on XRPL
During a fireside chat, Schwartz proposed using AI to overcome barriers to the social credit feature on the XRPL, enabling rippling of issued asset trustlines between users. This comes as the ecosystem already sees autonomous agent transactions. Chandler Fang, cofounder of t54ai and former Ripple product lead, revealed at the event that AI agents are now able to execute payments using XRP and RLUSD directly on the XRPL via the x402 facilitator, without requiring API keys or accounts. These agents can manage balances, hire other agents, and settle tasks autonomously.
Trust Layer for Agent Economy
Fang emphasized that for the agent economy to scale, a robust trust layer is needed—featuring agent identity, risk assessment, credit, and accountability. This positions the XRP Ledger as a platform for machine-driven financial coordination rather than just value transfer. Developers noted that this shift could unlock decentralized marketplaces and automated service payments, aligning XRPL with the emerging agent-based economy.
