- Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz revealed that he purchased 40,000 Ethereum (ETH) during the ICO and later exited for $1.
- If he had kept his investment until now, its value would have exceeded $100 million at current Ethereum prices.
Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz recently shared some details about his Ethereum purchase during the early stages of an initial coin offering (ICO). At the beginning of the ICO, Ripple CTO purchased a total of 40,000 Ethereum tokens.
The disclosure surfaced on May 10 following an inquiry from an XRP enthusiast named MetamanX. This prompted Schwartz to provide further details about his involvement with Ethereum ahead of the public phase of the ICO. However, Schwartz clarified that his involvement in the ICO was a purely personal decision, not a business one. Additionally, he revealed that he knows Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
When contacted, Schwartz revealed that his trusted friend Buterin invited him to participate in the ICO. This led him to donate his 20 BTC to support Buterin's efforts. Ripple CTO said:
“I knew about Vitalik. He invited me to join. I wanted to support him, so I bought 20 BTC. No questions asked. 40,000 I got ETH. I thought it was a good idea to help someone I know.”
Schwartz's story is backed up by public records, which confirm that Ethereum's ICO spanned 42 days from July 22, 2014 to September 2, 2014. During this period, an early investor could get 2,000 ETH for 1 BTC. As the ICO progressed, the exchange rate from ETH to his BTC increased, and by the end of the sale he had 1 BTC to 1,337 ETH.
Ripple CTO talks about the moment of early exit
The expert referenced a tweet from December that revealed the sale of Ether. Schwartz's choice to sell when the value of his 40,000 ETH holdings reaches $40,000 means a large return on investment. This decision resulted in a return of approximately 220% over a two-year holding period.
In a message from last December 2023, Schwartz wrote: “As many of you know, I sold 40,000 ETH for about $1 to install solar panels on a house I no longer owned. That ETH was soon worth over $100 million. there was.”.
Nevertheless, hindsight suggests it was a missed opportunity for the Ripple CTO. If he had continued investing until now, the current price of Ether would have been his $2,927, which would have amounted to a staggering $117,166,291, and his selling price of his $40,000. That means he has increased by 292,816%.
The intertwined history of Ripple and Ethereum contributes to the complexity of their story. Buterin's time at Ripple was cut short due to visa issues, highlighting the interconnectedness of the two efforts. However, tensions have been rising recently, especially with Ripple's legal clash with the SEC. Buterin's criticism of Ripple's decision and its potential impact on Ethereum's regulatory landscape has added further tension to their relationship.
