Surprises often emerge from unexpected corners in the crypto world. Recently, David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, shook the digital currency community by unveiling his early involvement with Ethereum. This revelation came to light during a lively online exchange between Schwartz and Charles Hoskinson, Cardano’s founder, revolving around the contentious “ETH Gate” theory.
David Schwartz revealed about his early investment in Ethereum when a user put forward a question before him on X.
He revealed how he gained access to the Ethereum project during its early days, and also explained his personal connection with Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin.
When ETH was priced at just $1, the Ripple CTO’s initial investment of 20 Bitcoins yielded him a good gain of 40,000 Ethereum tokens. However, what’s might sound funny to some users at Ethereum’s present price is that, Schwartz sold all his Ethereum holdings to fund the installation of solar panels in a house that he no longer owns.
Reflections and Regrets
In hindsight, Schwartz rues this decision, lamenting the missed opportunity as Ethereum’s value skyrocketed post his departure. He believes that had he held onto his Ethereum stash, his gains could have potentially surpassed the staggering sum of $100 million, representing an eye-watering 250,000% increase.
Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson and Ripple’s Schwartz remain engaged in their heated exchange regarding the “ETH Gate” theory, which alleges that Ethereum exerted undue influence on regulatory bodies, especially the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nonetheless, Hoskinson emphasized that Ethereum’s alleged manipulation of regulatory outcomes is unfounded, thereby dismissing these claims as conspiracy theories.
“No matter how many times you try to conflate the two statements, it won’t change reality,”
In contrast, former SEC Director William Hinman might be potentially involved, Schwartz believes. He suggested that this relationship could have influenced regulatory decisions because of Hinman’s affiliation with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a law firm connected to Ethereum. Schwartz also questioned whether Hinman was financially interested in Ethereum and whether he recused himself from related decisions during his tenure at the SEC.
As of May 10, 2024, XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, traded at $0.519716 per XRP/USD, with a market cap of $28.77 billion. The price has seen a slight decline over the past 24 hours, with a decrease of 0.32%. However, XRP’s long-term potential remains promising, given its use case in cross-border payments and other applications.
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