Ripple CTO David Schwartz Says Ripple Can Sell Rights to Escrowed XRP Supply Early

TLDR

Table of Contents

David Schwartz said Ripple can sell rights to XRP before escrow release dates.
The XRP would remain locked and could not circulate until each escrow matures.
A reported Amazon XRP deal remains unconfirmed by both Ripple and Amazon.
The report linked Axiology’s permissioned XRPL work to ECB pilot activity.

A past comment from former Ripple CTO David Schwartz has returned to public view. It renewed debate about how Ripple may use billions of XRP in escrow.

The comment said Ripple could sell rights to future XRP releases before those dates arrive. It also surfaced as Europe discussed tighter crypto oversight.

Schwartz Comment Returns to Focus

Crypto users reshared an older Schwartz post this week. That post spread again across XRP-focused accounts. In that post, he described one way Ripple could raise funds. He wrote that Ripple could ”sell the right to receive the tokens released from escrow”.

Schwartz also said Ripple could sell the accounts that receive those escrows. He added that ”The XRP still can’t circulate until their release dates.” That line remains central to the current debate. It defines the difference between funding and circulation.

John Squire reposted the comment on X on April 10, 2026. His post said the model could give Ripple capital now. He also said buyers could secure future XRP supply away from public markets. The renewed discussion followed that repost.

How the Escrow Structure Works

Ripple holds a large share of XRP in escrow under scheduled releases. Those tokens unlock over time, not all at once. The schedule has long drawn attention from XRP critics and supporters. Each release date shapes how traders read future supply.

Under the structure Schwartz described, Ripple can sell rights to future XRP now. The buyer receives a claim on tokens after release. The XRP stays locked until the escrow date arrives. That keeps the escrow timeline unchanged.

That means Ripple may raise cash before the tokens enter circulation. At the same time, the open market would not receive those tokens early. This separates funding from immediate token availability. The structure described in the post avoids an early release.

Amazon Rumor Remains Unconfirmed

A report about a 5 billion XRP arrangement with Amazon has circulated for years. The claim often appears in XRP community discussions. Neither Ripple nor Amazon has confirmed that claim. Still, Schwartz’s comment shows such a structure can exist.

A private buyer could agree terms for future XRP supply in advance. That buyer would then wait for the escrow releases. The idea has kept the old Amazon rumor alive online. Yet no named contract was provided in the material shared.

Ripple has not announced any specific escrow-rights sale. So the current discussion rests on Schwartz’s words and online commentary. No public filing in the provided material names a buyer. That leaves the rumor without independent confirmation.

Europe Regulation Angle Enters the Story

The discussion also turned to Europe and crypto regulation. A separate post said the European Central Bank backs a plan for ESMA oversight. That plan would centralize parts of crypto supervision across the European Union. The Europe angle added a second policy theme to the XRP debate.

The same thread linked Ripple, Axiology, and the XRP Ledger to European DLT work. It said Axiology runs a permissioned version of the XRP Ledger. It also said Axiology takes part in the ECB’s Project Pontes. That detail drew interest because XRP Ledger links were part of the discussion.

According to the post, the Pontes pilot starts in the third quarter of 2026. That claim was presented alongside the XRP escrow discussion. Together, both topics kept Ripple in focus this weekend. No official ECB statement was included in the material provided here.