Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, addressed concerns regarding the $XRP Ledger (XRPL), emphasizing its decentralized, open structure and rejecting claims that it is "permissioned" or "semi-permissioned." Schwartz clarified that XRPL's unique consensus protocol is designed to process transactions without relying on a central authority, ensuring resilience even if some validators act improperly. He also highlighted that the method of solving blockchain issues like double-spending is secondary to ensuring the ledger's reliability.

Additionally, Schwartz defended XRP's role in the ledger, explaining its importance in preventing spam attacks by requiring a scarce asset for transaction processing. This reinforces XRP's critical function even as new assets, like Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, are introduced【26†source】【27†source】【28†source】【29†source】.