The smartest (and maybe the funniest) person I know. A true OG in crypto with the conviction and vision to see what others couldn’t - you are a legend. Thank you David for everything you’ve done for the industry, for Ripple and for the XRP Ledger. We are all forever grateful… and in awe of your immense impact.
I’m not taking our weekly check-ins off the calendar though… and am glad you won’t be far as you join the Ripple board, continuing to impart your deep crypto wisdom and guidance on what we’re building. Wait...does this mean you’re my boss now!?!
As happens in one’s life, I’ve been taking stock of my last 40 years. It’s been a wild ride. I’ve gone from consulting for the NSA to watching the early stages of Bitcoin. Then, I met Arthur, Jed, and Chris and worked on coding the XRP Ledger. Now, I’ve spent more than 13 years at Ripple.
I can’t begin to explain the depth of my gratitude to this company, the people who work here, and the community that surrounds XRPL. It’s been one of the greatest honors and experiences of my life, second only to my amazing family.
The time has come for me to step back from my day-to-day duties as Ripple CTO at the end of this year. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the kids and grandkids and going back to the hobbies I set aside. But be warned, I’m not going away from the XRP community. You haven’t seen the last of me (now, or ever).
The last few months I’ve been tinkering on the side – spinning up my own XRPL node and publishing its output data, researching other use cases for XRP (besides what Ripple is focused on), and more. I truly enjoy this part — getting my hands dirty, talking to builders, coding for the pure love of it — and I’m really excited to get back to that. More to come on this very soon, I’m sure.
But back to gratitude — to Brad and Monica — leaders who have been here nearly as long as I have, and are the very soul of Ripple itself. To Chris, who took a huge leap of faith and never wavered. To Arthur, who had the big ideas every time we needed them. To the RippleX team, ledger developers, community members, builders, and everyone else — it’s been an honor being in the trenches with you all. Thank you for everything you have done for the XRPL. I have total confidence in the next generation of leaders and builders – including Dennis Jarosch (Ripple’s SVP of Engineering) – and far too many others to name in the XRP community who will carry the torch.
I’ll still be in and out of the Ripple office as CTO Emeritus, and as my last task at Ripple, Chris asked me to join Ripple's Board of Directors to continue supporting the company’s mission and long-term vision...and I accept!
I look forward to seeing the rest of you at XRP community events around the world.
– JoelKatz
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warns that Trump’s tariffs are shaking global markets & pushing the U.S. toward deeper economic trouble.
He says the U.S. has gone from being a global stabilizer to a destabilizer.
This is just another reason I personally support the tariffs🤣
Today, @Ripple announced the acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25B, one of the largest deals ever in the crypto space. But the price tag isn’t what’s most important – it’s that this deal marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for crypto to access the largest and most trusted traditional markets, and vice versa.
Prime brokers (along with other key functions historically managed by banks for the most part) like Hidden Road have proven themselves as *the* trusted intermediary for the largest hedge funds, market makers, OTC desks, quant traders and more. Ripple has been a customer of Hidden Road for years, and we know their breadth of expertise firsthand, clearing $3 TRILLION annually for 300+ of the top financial institutions globally.
This is the capital and activity that will tap into XRP and the XRP Ledger’s bread-and-butter – instant, efficient, scalable and low cost movement of value. Instead of waiting for <24 hours to settle trades through fiat rails, Hidden Road will be using XRPL for clearing a portion of trades, and most consequentially, using RLUSD as collateral across its prime brokerage services, including cross-asset (crypto and traditional instrument) trades.
With this deal and the backing of Ripple’s significant balance sheet, Hidden Road will exponentially expand its capacity to service its pipeline and become the largest non-bank prime broker globally.
Ripple and Hidden Road combined are a generational leap forward, ready to truly bring the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance together. https://t.co/UYOOyQ21dG
🚨 Brad Garlinghouse drops XRP truth bomb! 🚨
The #Ripple CEO explains that $XRP Ledger was built by early #Bitcoin engineers who saw BTC’s flaws & wanted a better product. 🔥
$BTC was the beta test, $XRP is the final product. 💥
What do you think?🤔
We're excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify $XRP futures - bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets.
We anticipate the contract going live on April 21, 2025.
Stay tuned for additional details on launch timelines and availability.
🚨NEW: Elon Musk is disrupted by a heckler at the Wisconsin Town Hall
"It was inevitable that at least a few Soros operatives would be in the audience. Give my regard to George! Say hi to George for me!" 💀
The final crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s – and what should be my last update on SEC v Ripple ever…
Last week, the SEC agreed to drop its appeal without conditions. @Ripple has now agreed to drop its cross-appeal. The SEC will keep $50M of the $125M fine (already in an interest-bearing escrow in cash), with the balance returned to Ripple. The agency will also ask the Court to lift the standard injunction that was imposed earlier at the SEC’s request. All subject to Commission vote, drafting of final documents and usual court processes.
That’s all folks!