Former Ripple CTO confirms that destroying escrowed XRP does not drive the price, with Ripple outperforming XLM in the market.

Gate News reports that on March 16, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz provided evidence indicating that destroying escrowed XRP tokens does not have a substantial positive impact on the price. Since the escrow release program began in 2017, Ripple has sold approximately 21.4 billion XRP, but recent discussions about burning escrowed tokens potentially boosting the price have sparked community debate. Schwartz’s evidence suggests that such actions may be a waste of money and do not significantly enhance market value.

Schwartz shared comparative historical price data of XRP and Stellar (XLM) on the X platform. In November 2019, Stellar announced it would burn half of its total supply, 55 billion XLM, when the price was about $0.065. However, one month after the burn, XLM’s price dropped to $0.045, a 30% decline, while during the same period, XRP, despite market sell-offs, fell from $0.295 to $0.19, a 34% drop. Both tokens later recovered. Currently, XRP trades at around $1.39, up 371%, and XLM at $0.164, up 152%. This data indicates that token burning does not necessarily lead to a direct price increase.

Additionally, Ripple continues to maintain a plan to release about 1 billion XRP per month, but in practice, only about 200 million are released, with the rest re-locked to control market supply fluctuations. Schwartz emphasized that market prices are more influenced by overall supply and demand and long-term investor confidence rather than solely by token burning activities.

Analysts believe this statement may influence XRP community expectations, encouraging investors to focus on actual market demand and circulating supply rather than single operational events. At the same time, this discussion highlights XRP’s unique position in the crypto ecosystem, with its long-term performance outperforming similar tokens like XLM, providing investors with valuable insights.