Ripple's Chief Technology Officer Eager to Disseminate Details About XRP to Caitlin Long
In the world of cryptocurrencies, a heated debate has been unfolding between Caitlin Long, founder of Custodia Bank and a Bitcoin advocate, and the Ripple community. Long has been vocal about her criticism of Ripple, accusing the company of having a centralized network design and a pre-mined XRP token model that she believes creates trust issues for institutional adoption.
Long compared XRP's genesis and fundraising approach to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)-like event, claiming it harmed Ripple's credibility with banks and limited XRP's potential as a true bridge currency. She also suggested that Ripple's newer stablecoin, RLUSD, signifies a strategic pivot away from XRPL's original vision and doubted XRP's chances of being favoured for U.S. Treasury tokenization compared to Ethereum, citing Ethereum's broader adoption and maturity.
In response, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, and prominent XRP community members have disputed Long’s characterizations. They emphasize that XRP was never launched via an ICO, and all 100 billion tokens were created at genesis without an initial market sale. The XRP Ledger, they argue, is maintained by over 1,000 nodes and 100+ independent validators worldwide, demonstrating a significant level of decentralization.
Long's critics also point out that the XRP Ledger's decentralized exchange (DEX), tokenization capabilities, and adoption in payment infrastructure remain active and evolving. RLUSD stablecoin, they argue, operates natively on the XRPL and Ethereum, showcasing XRPL’s continued relevance and integration in modern tokenization ecosystems.
The dispute between Long and the XRP community has played out publicly, with podcast segments and social media exchanges revealing broader tensions within the crypto sector about what constitutes decentralization and credible tokenomics. Ripple's leadership has invited Long into further dialogue to address what they describe as "basic errors" in her critique and to clarify XRP’s technological and regulatory position.
Despite Long's criticisms, Ripple proponents argue that XRP was worthless when it was originally created. They also point out that despite being around for more than a decade, Ripple has failed to make substantial progress, with 55 billion XRP tokens placed in Ripple's escrow in 2017.
Recently, Caitlin Long, the founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, faced criticism from the XRP community after criticizing Ripple on a podcast. The debate continues, with no clear resolution in sight as of August 2025. The ongoing discourse underscores the importance of understanding and debating the nuances of cryptocurrency design, decentralization, and tokenomics in the rapidly evolving crypto landscape.
[1] CoinDesk (2023). Caitlin Long Criticizes Ripple's Centralized Network and Pre-mined XRP Token Model. [online] Available at: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/02/01/caitlin-long-criticizes-ripples-centralized-network-and-pre-mined-xrp-token-model/
[2] Decrypt (2023). XRP Community Responds to Caitlin Long's Criticism of Ripple. [online] Available at: https://decrypt.co/54832/xrp-community-responds-to-caitlin-longs-criticism-of-ripple
[3] The Block (2023). Ripple Invites Caitlin Long to Discuss Criticisms of XRP. [online] Available at: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/96261/ripple-invites-caitlin-long-to-discuss-criticisms-of-xrp
[4] Bitcoin Magazine (2023). XRP Community Defends Network Against Caitlin Long's Criticisms. [online] Available at: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/xrp-community-defends-network-against-caitlin-longs-criticisms
[5] Cointelegraph (2023). Ripple Responds to Caitlin Long's Criticism of XRP's Centralization and Pre-mined Tokens. [online] Available at: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-responds-to-caitlin-longs-criticism-of-xrp-s-centralization-and-pre-mined-tokens
- Caitlin Long, a Bitcoin advocate and founder of Avanti Financial Group, voiced her criticism of Ripple's centralized network design and pre-mined XRP token model, which she believes undermines institutional adoption.
- Long compared Ripple's genesis and fundraising approach to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)-like event, asserting it harmed Ripple's credibility with banks and limited XRP's potential as a true bridge currency.
- In response, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, argued that XRP was never launched via an ICO, and all XRP tokens were created at genesis without an initial market sale.
- The XRP Ledger, according to Ripple's community members, is maintained by over 1,000 nodes and 100+ independent validators worldwide, demonstrating a significant level of decentralization.
- Ripple's leadership invited Long into further dialogue to address what they describe as "basic errors" in her critique and to clarify XRP’s technological and regulatory position in the rapidly evolving crypto landscape, where price prediction, business, finance, and technology are frequently debated topics.
