Ripple CTO Addresses Bitcoin Adviser’s Claims That XRP Is Centralized

Ripple CTO David Schwartz has addressed claims made by El Salvador Advisor Max Keiser that the XRP token is a “centralized” cryptocurrency. Schwartz took to X (formerly Twitter) to clear the air, stating that the Bitcoin Adviser’s opinion of XRP was too ignorant to warrant a proper reciprocation. 

On September 24, Co-founder of Volcano Energy and Bitcoin Advisor to El Salvador’s President, Max Keiser made a controversial statement about the XRP token. In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Keiser stated that Ripple’s native token, XRP was “centralized”, which was negatively received by the community and triggered a response from the Ripple CTO.

Responding to Keiser’s controversial claim about the XRP, Schwartz expressed his indignation and stated that he found the statement laughable.

“This is such an incredibly stupid argument I have no idea how I could possibly respond to it other than to laugh,” Schwartz said.

In addition to Schwartz, the Product Head of Visa Installment and former employee of Ripple, Josh Gierscha, also jumped on the bandwagon to debunk Keiser’s claims.

Initially, Giersch had believed that Keiser’s centralization claims were made from an X account impersonating the Bitcoin Advisor or from a fan account.

However, Schwartz revealed that the comment was made by the real Max Keiser. He responded by quoting the original post from Keiser’s real account.

Of course the real Max Keiser would never say anything this dumb.https://t.co/dd9JQUPvIYhttps://t.co/mOkN3v0vFU

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) September 27, 2023

Giersch then topped off the conversation, saying, “Keiser’s an industrial-grade crank, I shouldn’t have expected any better from him”

Keiser’s view on the XRP token was based on the cryptocurrency’s US patent created by Schwartz in 1992 which illustrated a cooperative system involving several interconnected computers. 

This is not the first time that Keiser has said something to draw the ire of the XRP community. The Bitcoin advisor has had a poor view of the token for some time now and occasionally criticizes XRP while idolizing Bitcoin. Back in May, the Bitcoin advisor had come under fire following a statement labeling the XRP token a “shitcoin.”

The XRP community also poured out to criticize Keiser’s claims about the token. One community member attributed the statements to Bitcoin maxis being scared of the token’s abilities, saying; “Bitcoin maxis are terrified of XRP.”

Another X user jumped in to add their own two cents saying that Keiser was being intentionally misleading to his over 500,000 followers. Pointing to the patent which Keiser used as the basis for his statement, the user said “There’s no way he believes you filed a patent for the XRPL in 1988. Not a chance. Yet this is what he asserts. Seems he’s just an “ends justify the means” type of guy.”

Keiser’s remark on XRP’s decentralization contradicts the inherent nature of the token which is seen in its value as a digital payment currency and an open-source ledger blockchain.