David Schwartz, the chief technology officer (CTO) of Ripple and one of the original architects of XRP Ledger, has addressed the recent rumors surrounding Ripple's alleged plan to buy back 10 billion XRP tokens, which is equivalent to 10% of the token's total supply and under current price worth $5 billion.

In a recent tweet, Schwartz clarified the situation, stating that while Ripple does engage in XRP purchases, he was not aware of any specific buyback plans at this time. Moreover, he highlighted that there was no official source supporting these rumors.

We do sometimes buy XRP. But I don't know of anything specific that this could be referring to. And there's no official source mentioned. — David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 25, 2023

The rumors appeared a day earlier, when the dubious news portal CryptoAlert released an article directly stating it as fact. Despite the questionable source and unconfirmed information, the rumor quickly gained traction in the XRP community, with many prominent voices commenting on it.

Ripple's XRP

As for XRP purchases by Ripple, that is no secret. The company's financial reports have consistently shown open market transactions aimed at ensuring an adequate supply of XRP for their on-demand liquidity (ODL) service. Furthermore, Ripple emphasizes that it exercises caution by limiting the quantity and sources from which XRP is purchased, minimizing potential exposure to the market.

According to XRPL Services, Ripple currently holds approximately 41.9 billion XRP tokens in its accounts. These tokens play a vital role in facilitating the company's various financial services and reinforce its substantial presence in the XRP ecosystem.