David Schwartz has announced plans to step down from his role as Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The Ripple CTO penned a heartfelt message to the XRP community alongside his announcement, promising to remain active in the community.
David Schwartz to Step Down As Ripple CTO
In an X post, Schwartz revealed that he will step back from his day-to-day duties as Ripple CTO at the end of this year. However, he told the XRP community that he is not going away as he plans to remain active in the community.
He also used the opportunity to express gratitude to the Ripple, XRP Ledger, and XRP community. Schwartz described working at Ripple as one of the greatest honors and experiences of his life, second only to his family.
The Ripple CTO also specifically expressed his gratitude to Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse, Monica Long, and Chris Larsen. He thanked Arthur Britto, with whom he developed the XRP Ledger. Meanwhile, Schwartz appreciated the RippleX team, ledger developers, and community members, stating that it has been an honor to work alongside them.
He added that he has total confidence in the next generation of leaders and builders on the XRP Ledger. Notably, his announcement comes as the XRP Ledger undergoes major updates to boost its adoption.
The Ripple CTO also highlighted his recent work on the XRP Ledger, including how he spun his own node, published its output data, and researched other use cases for XRP besides what Ripple is focused on.
Schwartz remarked that he truly enjoys the work, talking to builders, and coding for the pure love of it. He added that he is sure there will be more to come on this very soon. Builders like the Flare network have notably worked to boost XRP’s DeFi utility, introducing ways to earn yield on the altcoin.
As for what the future holds, the Ripple CTO plans to continue being in and out of the office as “CTO Emeritus.” He also revealed that he has accepted Chris Larsen’s request for him to join the company’s Board of Directors.

