Ex-Ripple CTO Just Spelled Out the XRP Value Thesis

A debate about the XRP Ledger’s fee structure recently pulled one of its original architects into the conversation.

David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer at Ripple and a key figure in building the XRP Ledger, offered a concise explanation of how XRP derives its value. His response has since circulated widely among the XRP community.

Another user, Saul, pushed back on that interpretation. Saul noted the fee structure exists primarily for spam prevention, not price appreciation. “You need fees for spam prevention, but they can’t go to validators,” he wrote, “so instead they burn the fees. But the key is that they keep them LOW.”

David Schwartz Steps In

In three sentences, he laid out how XRPL creates conditions for XRP to accumulate value. “Low fees and reliable operation make XRPL a great place to move and hold value,” he wrote. “That drives value flow to XRPL. XRP captures some of that value because of its unique advantages over other assets on XRPL.”

The statement connects infrastructure quality directly to asset value. Low fees and consistent performance attract users and capital to the ledger. Activity on the ledger generates value flow. XRP, by virtue of its position and unique properties within that ecosystem, captures a portion of that flow.

The Role of Low Fees

Schwartz’s comment aligns closely with Saul’s point about user experience. Keeping fees low is a deliberate design priority. Higher fees would accelerate the deflationary burn rate, but they would also reduce the ledger’s appeal as a place to transact. The architects chose low fees to maximize utility, and the deflationary effect is a byproduct of that choice rather than the primary objective.

This matters because it shifts how the value thesis reads. XRP does not rely on scarcity alone. It relies on the ledger being genuinely useful and cost-effective enough that people continue to move value through it.

XRP’s Position on the Ledger

Schwartz identified XRP’s “unique advantages over other assets on XRPL” as the mechanism by which it captures value. He did not elaborate further in the post, but the reference points to XRP’s role as the ledger’s native asset, its use in bridging transactions, and its function in paying transaction fees.

The full explanation now sits on the record, stated plainly by one of the people who built the ledger.