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XRP Ripple Chief Architect David Schwartz refutes "Ghost Chain" accusations: Network utility continues to expand
Core Summary: Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz firmly denies the accusation that XRP Ledger (XRPL) is a "Ghost Chain". He pointed out that XRPL's low transaction fees support diverse, practical and low-value online activities. Currently, tokenized assets have greatly expanded the practicality of XRPL. The market value of distributed physical assets is approximately US$458.37 million, while the total value of representative assets reaches US$4.06 billion. In addition, AI agents completed more than 4.8 million XRPL transactions. Despite two brief node connections and latency fluctuations, Schwartz managed the hub operation remained stable.
refutes the idea that automated activities lead to "meaningless transactions"
David Schwartz, Chairman Emeritus of Ripple's Chief Technology Officer, clearly refutes the claim that automated activities have made XRP Ledger a "ghost chain" with little practical utility. Previously, a Twitter user (username: "scams are bad") pointed out that robots and automated accounts make up the majority of trading activity on the Internet. The critic claims that in the past eight years, actual personal payment transactions have accounted for less than 1% of the record.
Schwartz found the assessment confusing and emphasized the network's low transaction cost advantages. As one of the original architects of XRPL, he argued that low rates naturally attracted users to engage in a variety of valuable as well as low-value activities. In addition, Schwartz challenges the assumption that increasing fees and reducing cheap transactions can improve blockchain performance. His response redirected attention to the network's accessibility, practicality and ability to support different types of transactions.
Later, the critic clarified that its original intention was to demonstrate the decomposition of XRPL's usage. The response seemed to acknowledge the network's activity, but still expressed concerns about its reliance on automated accounts. However, automated transactions do not necessarily mean meaningless activities. Blockchain applications often rely on software accounts to efficiently perform payments, settle transactions, and access digital services.
Tokenized assets and AI payments expand the utility boundary of XRPL
XRP Ledger's activities have gone beyond direct payments to include tokenized assets, stablecoins, decentralized liquidity, and institutional decentralized finance (DeFi). Currently, the market value of the physical assets distributed on the network is approximately US$458.37 million. It should be noted that this data does not include representative assets and stable currencies that do not generate income.
At the same time, the total value of representative physical assets on XRPL has reached approximately US$4.06 billion. These data suggest that payment transactions alone cannot fully measure the scale of broader economic activity on the Internet.
Agency finance has also become an important and growing source of XRPL transactions. As artificial intelligence agents purchase blockchain-based products and services, the total number of agency transactions has exceeded 4.8 million. AI agents use XRP or Ripple USD to obtain token analysis, cryptographic intelligence, market research, and forecast market projections. As a result, automated payments can represent legitimate economic activity without requiring individuals to manually approve every transaction.
Infrastructure Stability and Technology Outlook
Schwartz also provided operational updates on its independently managed XRPL hub. He said that except for two brief incidents involving a decrease in node connections and an increase in latency, system performance has been reliable. However, these incidents were caused by minor network outages and not internal XRPL issues. Overall, Schwartz maintains that despite criticism surrounding automated trading activities, low fees and diverse applications enhance the usefulness of the network.
