XRP secret plan narratives have circulated in the community for years. On April 23, 2026, David Schwartz, Ripple board member and former chief technology officer known on X as @JoelKatz, decided he had heard enough. His remarks, made during a public X Spaces session and followed by a direct post on X, drew over 165,000 views and reignited a debate that splits the XRP base down the middle.
The trigger was a question about so-called XRP lore — the layered mythology some holders build around the token, including claims of secret government deals, undisclosed institutional arrangements, and imminent catalysts hidden behind NDAs. The question came from a host referencing what XRP community members sometimes call “ground forces” narrative.
What Schwartz Actually Said
Schwartz did not deny that Ripple has secrets. He was precise about that. As @JoelKatz posted on X:
“No, I’m saying there are lots of secrets. Many of Ripple’s partners insist on NDAs to keep their business secret. I’m saying the conspiracy theories that constantly claim something big is about to happen or that the government is going to do something massive are almost always going to be completely false and if you’re investing time, money, or emotion based on them, you’re fooling yourself.”
That distinction is the core of what he said. Business confidentiality is standard practice. What is not standard practice, he argued, is treating that confidentiality as proof that something explosive is about to happen.
During the Spaces session itself, Schwartz put it more plainly, saying that about 99% of what exists around XRP is what people already see publicly. He acknowledged holding reasonable visibility into Ripple’s internal operations, the XRP Ledger Foundation, and several partner-level arrangements. From that vantage point, he found no hidden master plan.
The “Liar” Logic Nobody Else Reported
When X user @logicpolice45 pushed back — noting that if a real secret existed, Schwartz obviously would not reveal it publicly — Schwartz answered directly. As @JoelKatz posted on X in response:
“But I wouldn’t say there were no big secrets if there was a big secret unless I was a liar.”
That line is the part most coverage skipped. Schwartz was not just denying conspiracies. He was offering a logical framework: his public denial is only meaningful if taken alongside his track record of honesty. If he were hiding something massive, staying silent would be the move — not actively denying it in an open Spaces call with thousands of listeners.
X user @Pheanor589 had raised a similar point before Schwartz even weighed in. In a post on X, @Pheanor589 connected the lore discussion to what they described as a self-serving psychology among some community members — a need for XRP to be part of a grand destined narrative. The post also called out another participant for asking whether the earth is flat during the Spaces, a moment that drew mockery from several corners of the community.
Community Reaction and the Lore Problem
The reaction split fast. Some took Schwartz’s comments as confirmation that NDAs are real and that partner secrecy validates certain theories. Others read it as the opposite — a direct instruction to stop building investment theses on unverifiable claims.
@Pheanor589, posting in the context of the @peak_arf X Space, framed the problem this way: the project does not need a psyop built on invented lore. What the XRPL needs, the post argued, is better communication and a commitment to education and real progress. That sentiment aligned with what Schwartz said during the Spaces session proper.
Ripple does have ongoing partnerships, some undisclosed. That is not unusual for any fintech company operating at scale. What Schwartz pushed back against was the leap from “there are NDAs” to “therefore a government master plan involving XRP is coming.” That leap, he said, is where investors mislead themselves.
The post drew over 165,000 views by April 23, according to the engagement data visible on X. It sits among his most-read posts from the past six months.
NDAs Are Normal. Conspiracies Are Not.
Ripple’s business structure involves a range of institutional partners, many of whom request standard non-disclosure terms as part of deal-making. Schwartz acknowledged that during the Spaces call. He said that when details become public, it often happens within a short period of when they are ready to be disclosed — not because a secret is being dramatically unveiled, but because normal business timelines move forward.
What he rejected is the version of events where those NDAs are treated as proof of world-altering plans. An investor whose strategy rests on the assumption that the government is about to do something massive with XRP, Schwartz said, is operating on a foundation that is almost certainly wrong.
The XRP ledger, he added, will grow through real infrastructure, real institutional integration, and incremental adoption — not through a single hidden switch that someone flips at a destined moment.
