Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz posted a structured rhyme on X to push back against skepticism about his emeritus title. The verse, far from a product launch or roadmap, revisits his technical history from the early days of XRP Ledger development in 2011—touching on cryptography, payment rails, tokenization, decentralized exchanges, and network security.
Poem Answers Title Doubts, Spans 15 Years of Tech
The exchange began after an X user questioned the weight of Schwartz's "CTO emeritus" label. Schwartz fired back with a rhyming explanation: "I am the very model of a CTO emeritus," calling himself a ledger creator and listing hashes, Merkle trees, and transaction data. The poem then expanded into payment rails, custody, liquidity, decentralized exchanges, automated market makers, tokenization, derivatives, bridges, and stablecoins—topics Schwartz said he can explain to both technical and non-technical audiences.
No new product, protocol amendment, or release date was announced. The post focused entirely on his personal track record. Schwartz has spent more than 15 years explaining blockchain systems, and the poem reinforces that ongoing public role.
From Co-Creator to CTO Emeritus: XRPL Evolution
Schwartz helped build XRP Ledger alongside Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto starting in 2011. The network went live in June 2012 as a payment-focused alternative to Bitcoin's proof-of-work model. He later joined OpenCoin, which became Ripple, as chief cryptographer, was named CTO in 2018, and stepped away from day-to-day leadership at the end of 2025. Ripple now lists him as CTO emeritus and a co-creator of XRPL. He remains active in public talks about XRP, stablecoins, tokenization, network design, and blockchain security.
“I’ve spent decades explaining crypto’s finer points,” Schwartz wrote—a line that underscores his continued educational role after leaving daily operational duties.
XRPL Tech Progress: Version 3.2.0 and Network Growth
Schwartz’s poem arrived as XRPL developers prepared version 3.2.0 of the core server software. Per previous reports, the release renames rippled to xrpld and requires infrastructure operators to update certain systems. It focuses on performance improvements, code cleanup, and fixes for number handling and rounding. June 15 is a target date, not final.
Separate data shows that average daily XRPL transactions rose 35.3% in Q1 2026. Stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets also grew, even as XRP’s market price weakened. Schwartz’s poem did not claim credit for any particular milestone; it simply laid out his historical role, technical depth, and ongoing presence in the XRPL community.