Ripple CTO David Schwartz AKA JoelKatz Trades Blows With Craig Wright

Ripple CTO David Schwartz, aka JoelKatz, recently had a heated exchange with Craig Wright on Twitter…

Wright posted that Bitcoin could never be adopted by institutional investors unless a court order was involved to “recover the system”—which doesn’t immediately make sense.

Schwartz responded by telling Wright that his argument was dumb for a multitude of reasons and that institutional investors should not be the focus of peer-to-peer digital money.

From there, the argument descended into a multi-day affair…

This is not the first time Schwartz has engaged in a heated argument online; previously, Schwartz took aim at Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin—calling Ethereum a tool of the state.

The argument originally began with this post made by Wright, which David Schwartz immediately called out:

This is so dumb for so many reasons. Why are "institutional investors" the target market for peer-to-peer digital cash? And which jurisidictions should have their court orders respected? https://t.co/HGixvyfO4H

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 24, 2022

I guess Mr Schwartz is in for a hard lesson. It seems he doesn't understand how finance works or that people invest in commodities. Next, he has no idea about the legal frameworks and structures that allow for Court orders to be perfected across jurisdictions. https://t.co/bUGJphCasU

— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 25, 2022

Unfortunately, so-called experts like Mr Schwartz like to exceed their very very limited area of expertise.

He is also so far from understanding anything to do a bitcoin that he thinks Ripple is related to a blockchain inn some way.

— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 25, 2022

At least I don't abuse the legal system to silence my critics and steal.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 25, 2022

You are fortunate that I'm not the kind of despicable coward who would sue someone for sharing their opinion of me.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 25, 2022

There is an interesting little defence to what I'm saying in defamation. It's called truth.

XRP and your firm would sue me if it wasn't that I'm talking truth. If it wasn't for the fact that your failed protocol would be exposed before you fail in court…

You would sue.

— Dr Craig S Wright (@Dr_CSWright) December 25, 2022

Bitcoinist noted this about Wright:

The grand finale of the dispute was a threat by Wright that he will publish an “academic analysis” of XRP to a publication standard in 2023, which he will provide free of charge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as support in its legal battle with Ripple.

“Basically, we’re showing how dishonest the system is. Enjoy what’s coming. This will stop the constant XRP scams,” Wright wrote.

The argument continued into the next day with several other tweets and tweet threads:

All of these things involve us convincing other people to make changes. None of them involve us exercising any rights, legal or otherwise. https://t.co/OwXH5hsRtA

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 25, 2022

I genuinely believe that @Dr_CSWright is, if not the most entertaining follow in all of crypto Twitter, in the top three.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 25, 2022

Here's his response to my tweet. You can see that this was not a conversation about how XRP scales at all and that he immediately attempted to back up his nonsensical claims with irrelevant ad hominem. 2/2https://t.co/kBydInwx5k

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 26, 2022

Keep lashing out irrationally all you want, Craig. It won't change the fact that I pointed out that you made a terrible argument and are unable to defend it. https://t.co/iCqanfQFrJ

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) December 26, 2022

Coin Geek shared more of Wright’s perspective on Ripple and XRP:

Dr. Wright thinks Ripple will sink under regulatory action and subsequent lawsuits from everyone who’s ever invested in it, and warns something very similar could happen to Ethereum in the future. He remains confident that every blockchain other than Bitcoin will disappear, though regulatory actions or loss of value… or both.

The conclusion sees Dr. Wright give his opinion on how blockchain has been mis-sold and misunderstood by so many. This includes many of the products and services that accompany it, like exchanges and hardware wallets.

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