Regrets — Ripple’s CTO sold 40,000 Ether for just $1 each

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has revealed that he and his wife decided to make a “derisking plan” for their crypto investments in 2012 — resulting in eight-figures worth of missed profit at current prices.

In a series of tweets published on October 11, Schwartz revealed that he sold 40,000 Ether (ETH) for $1 each back then — a stash that would be worth more than $15.5 million at today’s prices.

The Ripple (XRP) executive also said that he regretted selling a significant sum of Bitcoin (BTC) for $750 and a large trove of XRP at $0.10, but did not reveal the volume of the sales.

My decision to derisk was made in 2012 or so when I discussed investing in cryptocurrencies with my wife. She insisted we agree on a derisking plan right then. And I must say that every bitcoin I sold for $750 or XRP for $0.10 hurt.

— David Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 11, 2020

Schwartz revealed his early conservative downsizing while responding to Twitter user ‘PbuzzXr’ who claimed that “anyone pushing XRP while derisking is exit scamming” in a wide ranging thread.

The user, who was not speaking about Schwartz specifically, added: “You can’t go around trying to build faith in others for XRP while you yourself have no faith in it and feel derisking it is your best option.”

Ripple’s CTO emphasized that his decision to derisk in 2012 was informed by the fact he is “a risk averse person with people who depend on me financially and emotionally.”

“Fate caused me to put a lot of eggs in one basket […] The risk is very high in the entire cryptocurrency space. I’m just too rational to pretend otherwise and suggest others do the same.”

Last week, Ripple’s co-founder and executive chairman, Chris Larsen, criticized the United States for failing to keep up with the likes of China, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in fostering crypto innovation, hinting that the company may soon relocate from the U.S.