David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, has a message for anyone who thinks expensive transactions equal a healthy network: that idea is “truly bizarre.”
It started when an old post resurfaced on X. The post referenced a Forbes article about Ripple’s early vision — low-cost, fast payments. Then it questioned whether XRP had actually delivered enough real-world value. The subtext: high fees prove people want to use a network. Low fees mean weak demand.
Schwartz isn’t buying it.
“The narrative that expensive crypto transactions translate into a healthier network seems odd,” he argued. His point is straightforward — low fees were baked into XRP’s design from day one. That’s a feature, not a bug.
Ripple’s founders — Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and Schwartz himself — designed XRP as a cheap alternative to traditional settlement systems. High fees are a tax on users. Calling that a sign of health, Schwartz says, doesn’t hold up.
The debate taps into a bigger question in crypto. Should transaction costs be high because demand is high? Or should networks optimize for low barriers to entry? Ethereum defenders often point to gas fees as a signal of network activity. Bitcoin maximalists wear high fees as a badge of security value. Schwartz says that logic is backward.
XRP currently trades with fees under a fraction of a cent per transaction. That’s by design. Whether the market sees that as a strength or a weakness depends on who you ask. But Schwartz’s take is clear: don’t confuse expensive with valuable.
