XRP News Today: Ripple CTO Challenges XRP ICO Claims Amid Public Debate With Caitlin Long

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has publicly engaged with criticism from Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long, offering to clarify Ripple’s technological and financial practices, particularly regarding XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The exchange began in early August 2025 when Long, during a podcast, questioned Ripple’s progress in the cross-border payments sector and suggested that tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum were more suitable for tokenization due to their lower capital requirements [3].

Long also raised concerns over Ripple’s decade-long existence without replacing traditional systems like SWIFT, highlighting what she perceives as a lack of disruptive impact in the financial infrastructure space [3]. In response, Schwartz expressed willingness to engage in direct dialogue to address these issues and referred to the detailed rebuttal from prominent XRP Ledger validator @Vet_X0 [2].

@Vet_X0 clarified that XRP was not issued through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), as the 100 billion tokens were created in the Genesis ledger account in 2012, long before the term ICO was commonly used. This pre-mined structure, according to Vet, distinguishes XRP from typical token sales and underscores the project’s early decentralized approach [2]. He also rejected claims that the XRP Ledger is centralized, citing the presence of over 1,000 nodes and 100 independent validators that support the network [2].

Schwartz emphasized Ripple’s ongoing development of decentralized infrastructure, including a native decentralized exchange and continuous upgrades to the XRP Ledger. Vet also noted that Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, is issued on both Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, further integrating XRP into broader financial systems [2].

In parallel, Ripple has taken steps to strengthen institutional adoption, including the launch of XRP custody services for South Korean institutional clients through its partnership with BDACS [6]. These efforts align with the company’s broader strategy to enhance regulatory compliance and expand its global market presence.

The exchange between Long and Ripple reflects a wider debate within the crypto industry about the classification of digital assets, the legitimacy of token distribution models, and the evolving regulatory landscape. While Long’s criticisms have drawn attention to potential gaps in Ripple’s market execution, Schwartz’s responses have emphasized a factual and transparent approach to addressing these concerns [2].

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[2] title2.....................................(https://www.ainvest.com/news/xrp-news-today-ripple-cto-challenges-xrp-ico-claims-legal-dispute-2508/)

[3] title3.....................................(https://bitcoinist.com/ripple-flamed-by-caitlin-long-xrp-doomed/)

[6] title6.....................................(https://investorshub.advfn.com/Ripple-XRPUSD-31949)