By Opeyemi Quadri 
Ripple’s longtime technology chief David Schwartz is stepping back from daily duties after more than 10 years, moving into a board role as “CTO emeritus.”
Key Highlights:
- Schwartz, one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, is transitioning out of day-to-day work.
- He said the move will let him spend more time with family while staying active in the XRP community.
- Dennis Jarosch, Ripple’s senior vice president of engineering, will now oversee technical operations.
- Schwartz joined Ripple in 2011 and became CTO in 2018, guiding XRPL through regulatory and technical milestones.
- The leadership shift comes as Ripple pushes its stablecoin RLUSD deeper into tokenized treasury markets.
Schwartz explained on X that he wanted to step back from the heavy demands of leadership but remain involved in building and supporting XRP. He noted he had been experimenting on his own by running a personal XRPL node, publishing its data, and researching new use cases beyond Ripple’s current focus.
Ripple confirmed that Jarosch would take over technical operations. The company emphasized that Schwartz will remain engaged with the community in his new advisory role.
Since joining Ripple in 2011 as a cryptographer, Schwartz has been central to the creation and evolution of the XRP Ledger. He became CTO in 2018, serving as one of the most visible defenders of the network during both regulatory battles and technical upgrades.
The shift in leadership comes as Ripple expands its ambitions with RLUSD, its stablecoin designed for tokenized treasury markets, while continuing to push XRPL applications beyond payments.
Editorial Staff