XRP Community Divided Over Ripple Role in Token Price Growth

A dramatic open letter to RippleXRP+0.26% leadership has triggered a fresh conversation across the crypto community. The core question is simple: what responsibility does Ripple actually have toward people who hold XRP?

The public letter was addressed directly to Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse and CTO Emeritus David Schwartz. It quickly spread on X, splitting community members into opposing camps.

What the Open Letter Demands

An XRP holder published the open letter, arguing that retail community members loyally supported Ripple during its hardest moments. They stood by the firm through negative news headlines and a long legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Because of this shared history, the author believes Ripple should now reward its community. The letter claims holders essentially fought the same legal war alongside the company.

The letter also criticizes Ripple for focusing heavily on new projects, like its dollar-backed stablecoin called Ripple USDRLUSD-0.94%, which the writer feels comes at the expense of XRP.

Finally, the author urged Ripple to take direct corporate action to help boost XRP toward a price range of $15 to $20.

However, crypto asset prices depend on broader market liquidity, adoption trends, and overall economic conditions rather than direct corporate intervention. While expanding real-world utility can support demand, overall market pullbacks or regulatory shifts could easily cause prices to fall instead.

Community Members Push Back

The post generated many responses, but a large portion of the community strongly disagreed with the author's argument.

Several holders emphasized that buying XRP is not the same as buying equity in Ripple. When someone purchases XRP on an exchange, they are buying a digital commodity rather than shares in a private business.

Critics also pointed out that Ripple paid its own legal defense bills during the SEC case, not retail investors.

Furthermore, because Ripple holds a significant reserve of XRP, the company already has its own natural interest in seeing the token succeed over time.

At the same time, some community members expressed sympathy for the writer. They shared their own frustration after waiting through years of regulatory uncertainty without seeing a significant market breakout.

Bill Morgan Highlights a Legal Contradiction

Prominent crypto lawyer Bill Morgan joined the discussion to highlight what he views as a major contradiction in the community's logic.

During the SEC lawsuit, many XRP holders maintained that token value did not depend on Ripple's corporate efforts. That specific argument was vital in helping Ripple defend itself against SEC security allegations.

Now, Morgan noted, some of those same holders are turning around to criticize Ripple for focusing on RLUSD instead of manually pumping XRP's market value.

That is on you

Morgan stated that buyers who bought at market peaks because online influencers promised price targets of $10, $20, or $100 must take full personal responsibility for their investment choices.

The Ongoing Debate Over Escrow Releases

The open letter also renewed debate around Ripple's XRP escrow program, which has faced scrutiny from community members for years.

Back in December 2017, Ripple locked 55 billion XRP into 55 separate escrow contracts to establish a predictable schedule for market supply.

The contract framework allows Ripple to unlock up to 1 billion XRP each month to fund operations and investments, returning any unused tokens back into new escrow locks.

Morgan offered a hypothetical scenario on how the escrow could have played out differently. He suggested that if Ripple had simply released the full 1 billion XRP every single month without re-locking unused supply, the escrow would have been completely empty by mid-2023.

Had that happened, around 95% of XRP's total supply would be circulating freely in the market today. In his view, that might have permanently resolved complaints about Ripple allegedly dumping tokens on the market.

Why This Tension Matters to Crypto Investors

This public exchange reflects a fundamental structural tension within the crypto industry.

Ripple is a private corporation focused on building enterprise software, cross-border payment networks, stablecoins, and banking infrastructure. Meanwhile, XRP trades independently on public global exchanges.

Because Ripple does not control the market price of XRP, the mismatch between retail expectations and corporate roadmap goals will likely remain a popular topic of discussion.

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