Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb not too long ago addressed renewed criticism surrounding his departure from Ripple and his determination to dump his XRP holdings.
McCaleb’s assertion got here after XRP holder Jim Knox accused him of intentionally harming Ripple traders resulting from private disagreements.
Nonetheless, McCaleb clarified his stance, stating that he knowledgeable the Ripple group about his determination to go away the corporate and his lack of perception within the undertaking earlier than promoting his XRP.
In keeping with him, his intention was to permit XRP holders the chance to “front-run” him — primarily enabling them to behave on the data earlier than he made his sale. McCaleb argued that this was extra clear than promoting with out prior discover.
“I instructed the Ripple group I used to be leaving. I did that earlier than I bought my XRP. The choice was to promote with out telling individuals. Is that higher?” McCaleb acknowledged.
Additional defending his actions, McCaleb identified that in his transition out of Ripple, XRP holders got the possibility to swap their tokens for Stellar (XLM). This transfer sought to scale back their potential losses from the scenario.
McCaleb used this clarification to deal with critics who painted his departure as a hostile maneuver in opposition to the group.
Jim Knox had accused the previous Ripple govt of deliberately making an attempt to hurt Ripple traders. Knox advised that McCaleb’s actions have been pushed by private frustrations with the workforce’s selections slightly than a real concern.
I did not do this in any respect. I instructed the ripple group I used to be leaving ripple and not believed within the undertaking. I did that *earlier than* I bought my XRP. The intent was to let individuals entrance run me. The choice was to promote with out telling individuals. Is that higher?
We additionally gave xrp…— Jed McCaleb (@JedMcCaleb) March 21, 2025
McCaleb’s Area Station Ambitions
This trade adopted current stories about McCaleb’s bold plans to construct a business area station along with his startup, Huge Area. A Bloomberg article highlighted that McCaleb is risking a good portion of his crypto fortune to safe a NASA contract to switch the Worldwide Area Station (ISS).
A billionaire is risking half of his cryptocurrency fortune to construct the primary business area station. Success might win his startup, Huge Area, a profitable NASA contract to switch the ISS.
Failure might value him $1 billion https://t.co/s1srj26PHp pic.twitter.com/DyPMXEsm6S
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) March 20, 2025
Regardless of the criticisms surrounding his XRP departure, McCaleb’s forward-looking tasks in area exploration have captured the curiosity of some members of the XRP Military. Nonetheless, some stay cautious of his motivations.
“That’s not the form of individual you may belief,” Knox remarked in response to an optimistic put up about McCaleb’s area endeavor.
A Glimpse at McCaleb’s XRP Gross sales Saga
Notably, Jed McCaleb initially owned 9 billion XRP from 2012, when the XRP Ledger first launched.
For context, in 2011, McCaleb, David Schwartz, and Arthur Britto started creating the XRP Ledger to allow quicker, scalable transactions. They generated 100 billion XRP upon launch.
In September 2012, McCaleb and co-founders Chris Larsen and Britto shaped Ripple (initially NewCoin, Inc.). This firm acquired 80 billion XRP as a present, whereas the founders retained the remaining 20 billion.
After McCaleb’s departure from Ripple in June 2013 resulting from differing visions, he started promoting his XRP holdings. Some argue McCaleb supposed to aggressively dump his XRP bag, however Ripple checked the transfer with authorized motion, imposing measured gross sales, together with some charitable donations. By July 2022, McCaleb was utterly out of XRP.
