Ripple CTO Defends XRP: Slams Critics for Focusing on Trivialities

• David Schwartz has refuted Justin Bons’ XRP centralization allegation.
• Schwartz accused Bons of focusing on irrelevant matters.
• The Ripple CTO says the validators’ influence on XRP is limited.

Ripple CTO David Schwartz refuted accusations from Cyber Capital founder Justin Bons. Bons alleged Ripple misled retail investors by not being truthful about XRP’s decentralization. He said the Ripple Foundation has total control over the network, making it centralized and permissioned.

Bons made his accusations in a long thread of posts on X. He pointed out parts of XRPL’s documentation and other things he thinks are important to the blockchain project’s identity. Bons said Ripple claimed XRP was more decentralized than BTC and ETH, even though it uses a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus algorithm.

Read also: ‘XRP Is Centralized’: Claims El Salvador President’s Bitcoin Advisor

Schwartz Responds to the Accusations

Schwartz refuted Bons’ claims, noting the Cyber Capital founder was focused on irrelevant details. For example, Schwartz explained that the network does not compensate validators. XRP validators cannot censor anything unless node operators change their code to allow them to do so.

In the meantime, Schwartz said the validators’ job is to resolve the “double spend” problem, which is uncommon in communities with honest users. He said Ripple validators can only engage in short-term control over the ordering of transactions for a few seconds. But even then, many validator operators would have to conspire for that to happen.

Schwartz extended his rebuttal to cover other aspects of Bons XRP criticism, highlighting comparisons with Bitcoin and how the pioneer cryptocurrency network explores users’ commitment to achieve a censorship-resistant status. The Ripple Chief highlighted the basic ways most modern blockchains achieve decentralization, including publicizing all transactions and the rules governing them.

It is worth noting that Bons’ criticism comes while XRP’s demand is skyrocketing. The crypto asset has gone up about 480% in less than five weeks. The cryptocurrency went above $2.8 for the first time since 2018, ending the persistent bearish pressure caused by the legal challenges Ripple had against the SEC.