Ripple CTO: You Can't Steal XRP from the XRPL
David Schwartz, Ripple’s chief technology officer, reiterated that XRP issued natively on the XRP Ledger is protected by the ledger’s consensus rules and account model, making it fundamentally different from bridged or wrapped tokens that rely on external custodians or smart contracts. His comments aim to clarify a common source of confusion: while bridges introduce extra trust assumptions and attack surfaces, native ledger assets are governed directly by the blockchain protocol.
The distinction matters for users, exchanges and developers weighing custody and cross‑chain strategies. Schwartz’s statement bolsters confidence in the XRPL architecture but also reinforces that key custody and account security remain essential — ledger protections don’t replace good operational security. The reminder comes amid ongoing industry debate over bridge safety and how best to move value between chains.