David Schwartz, $XRP Ledger, Ripple’s Honorary Chief Technology Officer (CTO), announced his personal opinion that people should not invest in Ripple.
“If you want direct access to Ripple’s successes and failures, you can buy Ripple stock on the secondary market if you qualify under U.S. law, but you probably shouldn’t do that,” he said.
He was responding to a member of the crypto community who requested “access to Ripple stock.” Similar requests to open Ripple to public investment have been circulating for years.
Unsurprisingly, Schwartz’s public post garnered tens of thousands of views within hours.
This unusually clear investment warning comes from an insider at Ripple, which once held assets worth $180 billion. $XRP Peak time on January 4, 2018.
At the time of its founding, Ripple (then known as NewCoin) held 80% of the shares. $XRP supply. Over the years, the coin has been steadily sold off.
Forge Global, a secondary marketplace for retail investors recently acquired by Charles Schwab, first listed Ripple stock in January 2023 at $19.74 per share. The stock peaked at $243.23 on November 6, 2025 and is currently trading at $116, giving it an estimated valuation of $19 billion.
Importantly, Forge Global’s valuation today is less than half of what Ripple itself claimed two months ago, and certainly lower than that valuation. $XRP Stocks held at the time.
$XRP Not a ripple investment
Ripple has never had an initial public offering, and there is no public stock price on which to base stock valuation.
Nevertheless, Ripple has historically controlled the proportion of such imbalanced supply, so $XRPmany individual investors mistakenly purchased $XRP As a proxy bet on Ripple’s success.
The company regularly discloses funding rounds, but provides few details about what obligations or considerations are included in the valuation.
Conveniently, Ripple’s valuation tracks its value extensively. $XRP Collection. The company’s valuation was most recently valued at nearly $50 billion as of March. $XRP Stocks held at the time.
teeth $XRP Is it overrated? Critics point out daily network revenue reaches $149
Schwartz, along with Arthur Britt, $XRP He joined Ledger in June 2012 to acquire an equity stake in and drive development of the company now known as Ripple.
As one of Ripple’s largest shareholders, Schwartz’s opinion on whether the average person should invest in Ripple certainly carries weight.
After selling most of his works, Schwartz recently admitted: $XRP Several years ago, his current Ripple stock was almost his entire crypto investment exposure on an individual basis.
Protos previously reported that Schwartz was made CTO emeritus and joined Ripple’s board after 13 years of service.
