David Schwartz, Ripple CTO, breaks NFT silence with surprise XRP Ledger purchase
A one-of-one NFT was recently created on the XRP Ledger by an artist known as Dale Forward. Listed on XRP Café, the digital artwork depicts what it feels like to pet a dog. As the artist himself describes it, “It’s like love is coming out into you and the dog.”
While the piece is wholesome on its own, what drew more attention was how quickly this 1/1 item was sold — and, ultimately, who bought it.
Thanks to the reach of social networks, less than two hours later one of the original architects of XRP Ledger and Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, announced that he had acquired the NFT, titled Pats.
Schwartz is no stranger to the digital art space, particularly the XRPL ecosystem. The address believed to belong to him — rHzWtXTBrArrGoLDixQAgcSD2dBisM19fF — currently holds 146 NFTs from 117 collections, valued at 64,265 XRP, or roughly $190,000 at current rates.
His wallet history often reveals bids on niche series that have never gained broad traction but still represent the early stages of XRPL art culture.
As for this latest purchase, Schwartz bought Pats for 30 XRP, about $90 at the time, though its value is likely much higher now as part of Ripple CTO’s collection.
Notably, this marks his first XRP NFT acquisition since August 2023, when he purchased Space Mermaid #335 for 120 XRP. Amusingly, despite being more expensive in XRP, the dollar value of that earlier buy was just $72.
Who knows? Maybe Schwartz showing interest in NFTs again is sort of a signal that this once booming segment of crypto is on the verge of a revival. Or maybe it was just a momentary effort to support a fellow XRP enthusiast.
