What happened
Schwartz used a public thread on Saturday to restate a position he has defended for years: when Ripple sells XRP into the market, the economic hit lands on Ripple's balance sheet, not on retail wallets. U. Today reported the remarks on July 11, framing them as a direct response to holders who accuse the company of suppressing price through steady escrow releases.
Schwartz's argument, as summarized in the report, is mechanical. A sale at prevailing market price moves inventory from Ripple's treasury to a buyer at that buyer's chosen price. The buyer paid what they were willing to pay.
Ripple gave up an asset it could have held. The seller, in Schwartz's telling, is the one making the concession. He did not disclose new sales figures.
He did not preview the next quarterly XRP markets report. This was a framing exercise, not a data drop.
Why it matters
XRP holders have leaned on the escrow-release narrative for the better part of a decade. Every month, a slug of XRP unlocks from escrow, some returns, some hits the market via Ripple's on-demand liquidity partners and OTC desks. When price stalls, the flow becomes the villain.
Schwartz is trying to redirect that anger. If holders accept his framing, the political pressure on Ripple to slow programmatic sales eases. If they don't, the pressure intensifies heading into the next quarterly disclosure.
The comments also arrive with Ripple's legal posture more settled than at any point in recent memory. The SEC's civil case is behind them. The company is expanding stablecoin and custody products.