Ripple CTO Clears the Air—No XRPL Code Allows New XRP Creation

• Ripple CTO David Schwartz has decisively refuted claims that the XRP Ledger can create new XRP tokens, emphasizing the network’s 100 billion supply limit.
• Debunking further speculation, Schwartz clarified that the genesis ledger’s restructuring did not create hidden XRP.

Since joining Ripple as a cryptographer on November 11, David Schwartz, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer, has offered a strong defense for Ripple, particularly regarding the XRP Ledger.

In a heated debate within the x platform within the crypto community, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer has firmly dismissed claims that the XRP Ledger allows for the creation of new XRP tokens.

His clarification comes in response to rumors/allegations that the blockchain could mint additional XRP tokens beyond the fixed 100 billion tokens in this case.

Resurfacing Concerns Over XRP Supply

Things heated up after Pierre Rochard, a renowned Bitcoin maximalist,  posted on X, asserting that Ripple could inflate the total supply by creating new XRP tokens. This claim, despite being previously debunked, sparked a fresh wave of discussions and skepticism within the crypto community.

Responding to Rochard’s assertions, David Schwartz clarified that the XRP Ledger’s robust design lacks any capability to mint additional XRP. He stressed the network’s inherent 100 billion XRP cap, a built-in safeguard that precludes any entity, even Ripple, from expanding the total supply.

Schwartz further added that the XRP Ledger operates with node-enforced rules that strictly prevent new XRP token creation. Notably, the network boasts a sophisticated checking system , therefore ensuring that no transaction on the network can generate new tokens.

No network rule in the XRPL code permits XRP to be created. In fact, network rules enforced by nodes specifically prohibit this.

Reinforcing David Schwartz’s explanation, XRPL dUNL validator Vet confirmed that the 100 billion XRP supply was established at the XRP Ledger’s genesis in 2012. Moving forward, he emphasized that the network’s original developers deliberately removed any code that would allow for the creation of additional XRP.

Furthermore, Vet stated that the XRP Ledger’s design includes an ‘invariant checker’ that continuously monitors for unauthorized attempts to increase the supply, making it impossible to circumvent the fixed supply cap, even through exploits.

Vet concluded that neither Ripple nor any other party, be it validators or administrators, have the capability to override the blockchain’s set rules.

Further reinforcing this point, Mayukha Vadari, a senior software engineer at RippleX, stated that the XRP Ledger inherently prevents any claims of additional XRP. If a wallet were to assert a balance exceeding the publicly recorded amount, the network’s validators would immediately reject such a transaction.

The only way for an account to have a given balance is if the public ledger state says it does. If an account claims to have more than the public ledger state says it does, the validators won't know anything about that and will reject any transaction that requires that claim to…

— Mayukha Vadari (@msvadari) March 9, 2025