David Schwartz, former Chief Technology Officer of Ripple, has put an end to the debate about XRP’s origins by confirming that the idea of a prototype payments network emerged before Bitcoin (BTC) by as many as five years, though XRP itself was not yet in existence at that time

Schwartz replied on X after a post claimed that XRP came decades before Bitcoin. The post said XRP is the oldest digital asset, which Schwartz directly clarified, drawing a clear line between the original concept and the coin Ripple oversees today.

What Ryan Fugger designed in 2004.

In 2004, Ryan Fugger came up with the idea of a decentralized settlement and payment network—an idea that predates Satoshi Nakamoto’s publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper by about five years.

Schwartz confirmed this timeline on X, but also highlighted a key point: Fugger’s model had no decentralized assets. His system, later known as RipplePay, operated as a credit network that relied on trust.

Users transferred value through existing relationships of trust, not through shared encrypted ledgers. There were no native tokens and no assets available for independent trading.

Schwartz explained this distinction again on X.

Ryan Fugger conceptualized a decentralized payment/settlement network (but without decentralized assets) around 2004, well before bitcoin.

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 26, 2026

However, this difference is important because Bitcoin introduced open assets confirmed with proof of work, while the XRP Ledger itself has its own decentralized value transfer model—but it came after Bitcoin, not before.

XRP launched three years after Bitcoin.

The XRP Ledger went live in 2012, three years after Bitcoin’s first block was mined in January 2009. Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and Schwartz together built this protocol before Ripple later took over.

This timeline clearly refutes the 1988 claims. Fugger’s idea may have come before Bitcoin, but that idea wasn’t a coin. Both the XRP Ledger and the XRP token started in 2012.

This difference is more important than historical accuracy because Ripple’s CEO has also criticized Bitcoin’s corporate strategy, revealing broader tensions between these two communities.

This debate reflects a pattern seen throughout the crypto industry, where origin stories often blur together the idea and its real-world implementation. Moreover, this year, the claim that the CIA created Bitcoin was also broadly rejected on the same principle.

XRP stayed close to 1 USD while Ripple expanded into Europe.

The token has just tested the 1 USD psychological level amid a rapid drop from an earlier peak price. Although some investors still view this coin as a long-term inflation hedge, analysts have encountered numeric obstacles that don’t match the current price.

Schwartz continues to play a role in the community. Beyond recent origin-related questions, he has discussed investments and gambling in posts that sparked debate among coin holders.

XRP’s beginnings may not be as important as Ripple’s direction today. The company has just received MiCA approval from Europe through a license in Luxembourg, expanding its regulatory reach across the continent.