“ripple and its cofounders have too much xrp and keep dumping it” this is a criticism i see so much. because on paper it looks true. ripple and its founders have sold a lot. and i’ve also thought about it deeply. but was this just bad tokenomics design? my conclusion is no. the critics are wrong. it was actually one of the best tokenomics ever. here’s how it created the perfect environment for success 👇 first of all, there are many reasons people often give for selling, like decentralising ownership etc. i won’t go into those because i feel they have been tackled by other blockchains (e.g. through airdrops etc). instead. my thesis is actually that this tokenomics is one of the key reasons that xrp has succeeded. why? number 1, because its stewards were all heavily incentivized to make it a success. remember that xrp started from literally 0. they made it actually worth something. and today the top dogs have made hundreds of millions (some of them, billions). they were rewarded for this. and don’t forget. all of the original creators are still at ripple (apart from one). which other blockchain of the same vintage can say the same? vitalik is literally the only cofounder still at ethereum (there were 8 in total). and remember, ripple and the xrpl’s creators didn’t make money in a vacuum. xrp is up 120,000% since it started trading (see coingecko). early believers in the xrpl were rewarded together with its creators. they went on this generational wealth-building journey together. and how about ripple? its massive holdings of xrp are massive, yes. but importantly this has a purpose: it’s a warchest. and this has enabled ripple to keep building through bear market after bear market. taking big swings at its massive mission. people who say that ripple and the xrpl's creators were given too much xrp feel like socialists. they’re socialists who pursue equality and end up only making everyone poorer. those critics don’t understand that to create wealth, you need to reward those who generate it (for a great novel on this, see ayn rand and atlas shrugged). one of the greatest lessons from silicon valley is that to make something successful, we need to ensure its creators can become rich in the process. so in conclusion, did ripple and the xrpl's creators get a ton of xrp? yes. but was this a bad thing? no. i’ve come to believe it was actually one of the best things. you just need to look at the facts. anyone saying that the same success could have been achieved by giving them less is dealing purely in counterfactuals and in the realms of the imaginary. this tokenomics has long been forgotten. but it’s simple, and proven to work. and i think it’s actually one of the best ever.