TL;DR
Ripple's CTO Emeritus, David Schwartz, dismissed conspiracy theories about XRP's involvement in secret U.S. government plans, stating no hidden agreements exist. He clarified that Ripple's partnerships with banks are transparent and primarily involve fiat and stablecoins, not XRP.
David Schwartz, CTO Emeritus of Ripple, issued a direct rebuttal to popular conspiracy theories about "secret plans" by the U.S. government regarding XRP. The situation around XRP has been characterized since 2013 by large-scale theories claiming the token would become the world's reserve currency and connect all banks.
Amid expectations of the final vote on the CLARITY Act and the recent launch of Ripple's national trust bank status, these rumors have resurfaced with renewed intensity.
What's really behind Ripple's NDAs?
Schwartz therefore stated clearly that no secret agreements with the government or large hidden plans for XRP within central banks exist, classifying such claims as a "conspiracy theory". Yes, Ripple does have hundreds of secrets, he says, but these are standard non-disclosure agreements required by banking partners to protect commercial interests.
Moreover, Ripple's relationships with banks such as Deutsche Bank and Société Générale are public and transparent, but they use RippleNet infrastructure primarily for messaging or settlements in fiat and stablecoins such as RLUSD, not XRP.
No, I'm saying there are lots of secrets. Many of Ripple's partners insist on NDAs to keep their business secret. I'm saying the conspiracy theories that constantly claim something big is about to happen or that the government is going to do something massive are almost always…
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 23, 2026
Schwartz also denied rumors about "secret contracts" for pre-allocated XRP from Ripple's escrow accounts, reminding investors that the escrow system is fully transparent and traceable on-chain. Investors whose strategies rely on the assumption that governments are secretly working with Ripple on some hidden plan that will trigger are fooling themselves, as this foundation does not reflect reality, Schwartz concluded.