Debates over former Ripple Chief Technology Officer (CTO) David Schwartz’s XRP stake continue to surface in the cryptocurrency market. Up-to-date updates from the XRP researcher show how many tokens Schwartz owned and how much they would have been worth each year between 2012 and 2026 if he had never sold his shares.
How much could the former Ripple chief technology officer’s XRP holding be worth?
A prominent blockchain cryptocurrency researcher known as BankXRP did just that released a novel report on the value of the XRP stash once held by Schwartz. The findings detail how farm values may have increased over time previously former Ripple CTO he sold his bags.
This is clear from the report Schwartz once owned 26 million XRP tokenswhich has seen huge fluctuations due to the price change every year. In 2012, the value of XRP was $0.005, which meant its assets were worth $130,000 before the cryptocurrency reached $2.30 in 2017 during the bull market. At the time, the former Ripple executive’s net worth could have been valued at around $59.8 million.
BankXRP then stated that the value of Schwartz’s portfolio would decline when the price of XRP dropped to $0.19 in 2019, and escalate again when the value of the cryptocurrency rose back to $1.00 in recent cycles. Until 2024, after mass rallythe average price of XRP was $2.08. This means that the estimated value of Schwartz’s shares would be more than $54 million.
The latest data shows that in 2025 and 2026, XRP was trading at average prices of $1.84 and $1.40, respectively. These market rates would put the former CTO’s total holdings in the range of $36.4 million to $47.8 million over the last two years.
It’s worth noting that BankXRP said this Schwartz decided to sell a gigantic portion of his tokens when the price was around $0.10 per token. This sale was not made in one transaction. The former Ripple CTO liquidated a gigantic portion of his holdings in several waves between 2012 and 2020 as part of his risk-mitigation strategy.
That particular sale netted him about $2.6 million at the time, but the market continued to fluctuate wildly thereafter. On May 6, 2026, Schwartz noted on X that he “used to have 26 million XRP” but currently holds significantly less.
Schwartz talks about his investment strategy
This week, Schwartz shared novel details about his personal digital holdings and overall financial strategy on the X platform. Former Ripple CTO revealed that he moved a significant portion of his wealth from direct exposure to cryptocurrencies, including XRP.
Schwartz explained that he prefers to limit his financial risk, even though many of his previous investments have been very successful. He also explained that he doesn’t have much of his original stock of XRP left because he doesn’t like risk and prefers a more conservative approach to investing.
While he views cryptocurrency as a infrequent opportunity to build wealth, Schwartz said he feels comfortable losing it potential huge profits. This is because, in a volatile market, he has chosen to choose stability over the highest profits possible.
Ripple’s former CTO also mentioned this he could have become a billionaire if he was willing to take more risk with his portfolio. He believes his current level of success reflects the level of risk he has been willing to accept over the years. Currently, its main connection to the blockchain industry is through ownership Ripple shares. He he said that the position gives him ample exposure to the crypto space while allowing his other finances to remain protected.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from Tradingview.com
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