In a recent incident that has caused significant outrage within the XRP Ledger (XRPL) developer community, Ripple is under fire for altering a podcast clip. The edited segment was part of a modern Ripple podcast series titled “Exploring Ripple’s New Stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD)” in which CTO David Schwartz and Ripple CEO Monica Long discuss the upcoming stablecoin launch and various aspects of the XRP Ledger ecosystem.

The controversy centers around a specific modification of a statement made by Monica Long. In the original podcast, Long noted the developer engagement momentum for the XRP Ledger, stating, “We put all this effort into it and it’s kind of like a chicken in the egg to get developer momentum for the XRP Ledger, which we see, there are already thousands of developers building projects, but to really see that flywheel gain more momentum, you have to have high-quality assets, especially right now you need on-ramps and off-ramps that are reliable and efficient, so for the most part it was stablecoins.” However, in the modified version posted on YouTube, the phrase “there are already thousands of developers building projects” was conspicuously absent.

XRP Ledger Creators Are Furious With Ripple

Daniel “No” Keller, CTO of Eminence and XRPL ambassador, was one of the first voice his dismay. In a tweet to Schwartz and Long, Keller expressed his confusion and disappointment: “Hey David Schwartz and Monica Long! Why did you post a podcast clip, then delete it, only to re-upload an edited version? What happened to the “thousands of developers” part? Ripple and @RippleX have failed the community. Why are you still pretending everything is fine?”

Keller’s frustration reflects a broader sentiment in the developer community, where developers feel increasingly sidelined and undervalued by Ripple’s corporate decisions. Keller said: “Why pretend everything is fine? Neither your ‘stability’ nor your pathetic attempt at ‘Defi on XRPL’ is going anywhere […] It’s time to be sincere. This is the community that helped you get through the tough times.

Keller’s statement highlights the growing rift between Ripple and the XRPL developer community. The Eminence CTO added: “We could fix the ecosystem in a heartbeat. But I assume no one after YOUR END is interested in that. You can fix the ledger, but it’s your choice not to. For whatever reason…”

His comments resonated with the XRPL community, with many left disappointed with Ripple’s commitment to transparency and community engagement. Stephen Chip, co-founder of onthechain.io criticized Ripple for lack of focus on supporting its developer ecosystem.

“Many of us have been left in the dark when it comes to grant funding. At this point, I know more people who have been denied grants than who have received them, myself included. While it’s great that you’ve launched the Japan-Korea Fund, it’s important to honor your original promise of grant support,” Chip noted.

On the other hand, community member and validator dUNL Vet (@Vet_X0) defended Ripple and suggested that the edit may have been made due to inside knowledge at Ripple correcting a possible oversight: “As for the edited podcast, I think it shows that there are people at Ripple and RippleX who know the ecosystem very well and have improved it. That to me is the only logical answer as to why someone would edit it, otherwise no one would have done it, only after people started talking about it publicly.”

At the time of going to press, XRP was trading at $0.4558

Featured image created with DALL E, chart from TradingView.com