Ripple’s long-serving Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has announced he will step down from his day-to-day role at the end of this year, marking the end of an era for both the company and the wider XRP community. In a heartfelt message shared on X, Schwartz reflected on his four decades in tech, from working with the NSA to witnessing Bitcoin’s earliest days, before co-founding and helping build the XRP Ledger. “I’ve spent more than 13 years at Ripple,” he wrote. “It’s been one of the greatest honors and experiences of my life, second only to my amazing family.”