Ripple CTO Clarifies XRP Ledger Decentralization and Denies Secret Access

Ripple's CTO confirms XRP Ledger is fully decentralized, no secret control.

XRP Ledger validators are independently operated and network changes require consensus.

Ripple manages XRP sales but denies market manipulation claims.

Ripple does not have “secret access” to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) network — the blockchain is fully decentralized, Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz stated in an interview with Decrypt.

”We are a significant contributor to the ecosystem.

It is certainly very important to us.

But we have no interest or desire to control or manage the network,” Schwartz said.

Critics have pointed to the relatively low number of validators on the XRPL—187 according to XRPScan—much fewer than Bitcoin’s roughly 23,000 nodes as reported by Bitnodes.

However, Schwartz emphasized that the number alone is not the key metric; the distribution among independent operators matters most.

According to Schwartz, Ripple operates only one of 35 validators—less than 1% of the total network.

All major protocol changes require 80% agreement from network participants.

“We physically cannot block transactions or change the rules of the game unilaterally,” he added.

The XRP Ledger uses Unique Node Lists (UNLs), which are trusted validator nodes independently selected by each participant.

The official UNL maintained by the XRP Foundation used to include Ripple nodes but now operates independently.

Some critics allege Ripple influences the market by periodically selling XRP tokens—it currently controls about 38 billion XRP.

Schwartz denies any manipulation, stating that sales from escrow affect liquidity but do not impact blockchain operations.

Ripple’s decentralized governance model, with less than 1% control over validators and strict consensus rules, ensures no single entity, including Ripple, can unilaterally control or manipulate the XRP Ledger network..

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