Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz has revealed that he sold almost his entire cryptocurrency portfolio, reducing his personal holdings from approximately 26 million XRP, 1,500 Bitcoin, and 40,000 Ethereum to just 3 million XRP, 1 BTC, and 6 ETH, according to statements reported on Nov. 11, 2026.
Schwartz described the sell-off as a long-term strategy rather than a loss of confidence in digital assets. He said he had not bought XRP for a long time because he felt “too uncomfortable” with the risk, and that the sales were driven by personal risk sensitivity. As part of an agreement with his wife, he sold a portion of his XRP when the token reached a new all-time high.
The reduction amounts to roughly an 88% cut in his XRP holdings from their peak. Despite acknowledging that every risk he took on XRP and cryptocurrencies had yielded huge returns, Schwartz said his cautious approach prevented him from becoming a billionaire. “I’ve been exactly as successful as I wanted to be,” he wrote.
The comments sparked debate among XRP investors about whether the sales reflected negative expectations for XRP. However, Schwartz emphasized that his decisions were not specific to XRP and stemmed entirely from his personal investment approach.
