Ripple’s former chief technology officer David Schwartz said he knows of no links between Jeffrey Epstein and Ripple or XRP, while warning that revived early crypto disputes point to deeper structural problems.
Schwartz said on X that resurfacing historical rivalries should not be dismissed as isolated incidents, suggesting they may reflect unresolved weaknesses in trust and governance across the crypto industry.
“I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is just the tip of a giant iceberg,”
Schwartz said.
The comments followed renewed attention on a July 31, 2014 email sent by Blockstream co-founder Austin Hill to Jeffrey Epstein, with others copied, discussing opposition to investors supporting both Ripple and the newly launched Stellar network.
Schwartz later clarified that the email reflected Hill’s views on alignment and rivalry rather than evidence of Epstein exercising influence over Ripple or related projects.
“I don’t know of any connections between Jeffrey Epstein and Ripple, XRP, or Stellar,”
Schwartz said in a separate post addressing online speculation.