XRP News: Ripple’s David Schwartz Cut His Holdings By 88% – Should Investors Worry?

In recent XRP developments, David Schwartz—one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger and Ripple’s chief technology officer emeritus—disclosed on Tuesday that he has divested the majority of his XRP holdings over the years. He noted that his maximum holdings peaked at approximately 26 million XRP, while his current balance stands near 3 million.

Writing on X under his handle @JoelKatz, Schwartz stated, “It’s not a secret.” His Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves similarly dwindled nearly to zero, moving from roughly 1,500 BTC down to 1, and from about 40,000 ETH down to 6.

It's not a secret. I think I'm down from a high of around 26 million XRP to around 3 million XRP. Down from around 1,500 BTC to 1 BTC. Down from around 40,000 ETH to 6 ETH.https://t.co/EnFjk9aXu1

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) November 10, 2026

The timing proved painful for market sentiment. XRP is currently priced at $1.056, marking a 17% decline over the week. This sits 71% lower than its all-time high of $3.65 reached in July 2025.

According to Schwartz, his sales followed a straightforward guideline: offload assets at every newly established all-time high. Evaluating the frequency of this strategy reveals that since its January 2018 peak, XRP has closed at a fresh record on only two separate days, both occurring in July 2025.

Consequently, market observers are left asking whether one of the primary creators of XRP chose to dump tokens on everyday holders.

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XRP News: Schwartz Sold Into Rallies, Not Into This Drop

Available records indicate he unloaded his position gradually over an extended period. Because Schwartz did not provide specific dates or transaction prices, outside parties cannot pinpoint the exact moments these transfers occurred.

He has previously explained the rationale behind his actions. In a July post outlining his approach, he mentioned he “agreed with my wife to sell at every new ATH and I really, really hate risk.”

He offered additional clarification on Monday, November 9, stating that he has “sold nearly all of the digital assets I’ve ever held” and has not purchased XRP “in a long time.” He maintains ownership of “quite a bit of Ripple stock,” which he described as carrying more risk than he prefers.

On paper, the scale of the reduction is substantial:

• XRP sold: roughly 23 million XRP, representing an 88% decrease from his maximum holding.
• What is left: approximately 3 million XRP, valued near $3.2 million at current market rates.
• Bitcoin: 1,499 BTC disposed of. At today’s valuation of around $73,800 per coin, those holdings would be worth roughly $110 million.

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XRP Price Analysis: Can XRP Hold Above $1?

On Binance, XRP changes hands at $1.056, marking a 24-hour drop of 2.8%. Following the release of the U.S. inflation report on Tuesday, the token dipped to $1.0311, hitting its lowest price point since August 19.

On the daily timeframe chart—where each price candle represents a single day—XRP trades safely beneath both major exponential moving averages (EMAs), which assign greater significance to recent price action. The 50-day EMA rests at $1.284, while the 200-day EMA is positioned at $1.347.

• Resistance: $1.089 (the 24-hour peak), followed by $1.130 (a recent swing high), and higher up at $1.284 (the 50-day EMA).
• Support: $1.031 (Tuesday’s low), followed by $1.009, and down to $0.986 (the August 14 low, which marked the last time XRP traded beneath the $1 threshold).

For market participants following this XRP news cycle, Schwartz’s divestment represents historical context paired with updated figures. Under his designated trading rule, he only executes sales during fresh all-time highs, meaning XRP would need to more than triple its current price to trigger his rule again.

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