Ripple Co-Founder McCaleb Speaks Out on Historic XRP Sales

Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Ripple, recently addressed ongoing community concerns about his XRP sales strategy on the X social media platform. His statements offer rare insight into one of the most significant token liquidation events in cryptocurrency history.

McCaleb directly challenged accusations that his sales were motivated by frustration with Ripple's strategic direction. Instead, he emphasized that his public announcement about leaving the project was intended to benefit the market.

"The intent was to let people front-run me. The alternative was to sell without telling people. Is that better?" McCaleb stated, defending his approach to transparency during his multi-year liquidation process.

The entrepreneur also highlighted a key legal distinction in his case, noting that he "never promoted XRP as an investment," which explains why he wasn't targeted by the SEC's enforcement actions that later impacted Ripple.

The $9 Billion Separation

McCaleb's relationship with XRP dates back to 2012 when he received an allocation of 9 billion tokens as a Ripple co-founder. His departure from the company in 2013 to establish Stellar, a competing blockchain project, marked the beginning of a complex unwinding of his massive token position.

The liquidation process was highly structured through multiple legal agreements:

• In 2014, an initial agreement capped McCaleb's sales at just $10,000 per week
• Ripple later filed legal action against McCaleb for allegedly exceeding these limits
• A 2016 settlement established a new framework tying his sales to XRP trading volume

By 2022, McCaleb had finally exhausted his entire XRP holdings. According to Ripple CTO David Schwartz, the company's legal intervention prevented McCaleb from dumping his entire position at once, which could have severely impacted market stability. Schwartz notably remarked that McCaleb would "probably be the only person to become a self-made billionaire despite his best efforts."

From Digital Assets to Space Exploration

McCaleb's crypto journey began before Ripple, as he was also the founder of the now-infamous Mt. Gox exchange. His XRP liquidation and company stake sales have reportedly netted him approximately $3.2 billion.

The cryptocurrency pioneer has recently returned to public attention after Bloomberg revealed that his substantial crypto fortune is now funding an ambitious new venture: the development of what aims to be the world's first commercial space station, marking a significant transition from digital asset innovation to space technology advancement.