15 Years Since David Schwartz First Coded XRP Ledger’s Foundation, XRPL’s First Step?

News By Tomiwabold Olajide Nov 13, 2026 The first code of XRP Ledger turns 15 on this date in November.Advertisement 15 Years Since David Schwartz First Coded XRP Ledger’s Foundation, XRPL’s First Step?

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The first line of code for the core of what would become the XRP Ledger (XRPL) was written about 15 years ago, on November 11, 2011, by David Schwartz.

According to the official XRP account on X, the date 11/11/11 marked the beginning of Schwartz's work on what would later support one of the cryptocurrency industry's established payment-focused blockchain networks.

Schwartz, now Ripple CTO Emeritus, was one of three engineers, alongside Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto, who began developing the XRP Ledger in 2011. The three were inspired by Bitcoin to build an alternative that would address some of its problems, especially in the areas of sustainability and payments.

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In June 2012, the XRP Ledger went live. Shortly after Chris Larsen joined the group in September 2012, a company called NewCoin was formed; it soon changed its name to OpenCoin before becoming Ripple. The founders of the XRPL donated 80 billion XRP, the network’s native digital asset, to the company.

Ripple has locked up most of its XRP in escrow, about 55 billion XRP, and releases 1 billion XRP on the first day of every month.

November: A crucial month in XRP’s history

The anniversary on November 11 marks the start of the XRP Ledger’s development, as what began with Schwartz's first code in 2011 eventually morphed into a blockchain network designed to enable value transfers.

November is also a big month for XRP as U.S. spot XRP ETFs celebrate the first anniversary of their landmark launch.
Canary Capital’s XRP exchange-traded fund, listed under the ticker XRPC, began trading on November 13, 2025, and is the first spot XRP ETF on a U.S. exchange.

In upgrade news, XRPL version 3.5.0 is scheduled for December 3, 2026. This release includes only improvements and fixes, including a permanent fix for occasional slow ledger close times.

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