Ripple Faces Transparency Backlash Amid Institutional Adoption Debate

Ripple, the blockchain company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, is facing renewed scrutiny from the crypto community following public criticism from YouTuber and entrepreneur Andrei Jikh. On Wednesday, Jikh took to X (formerly Twitter) to raise questions about Ripple’s claimed partnerships and the lack of publicly available onchain data to back them up.

He particularly challenged Ripple’s widely cited claim of over 300 bank partnerships across its 13-year history, asking why there is little verifiable onchain evidence of these collaborations.

CTO David Schwartz Responds — With Caution

Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, quickly joined the discussion thread to defend the company. He addressed all six of Jikh’s questions and offered insight into Ripple’s cautious approach to onchain activity and institutional engagement.

“There are a number of reasons why institutions have historically preferred to use digital assets off-chain rather than on-chain,” Schwartz explained.

He admitted that even Ripple itself does not rely on its decentralized XRP Ledger (XRPL) for executing institutional payments.

According to Schwartz, adoption of onchain solutions by institutions has been slow — a trend he believes is beginning to change. However, he also cited concerns over financial crime, particularly terrorism financing, as a key reason Ripple avoids fully onchain transactions.

“We can’t be sure a terrorist won’t provide the liquidity for a payment,” he said, referencing the risks associated with decentralized liquidity pools.

Schwartz suggested that “permissioned domains” could serve as a mitigation tool but did not elaborate on how this would function in practice.

What Is XRPL, and Why the Gap in Onchain Visibility?

Ripple’s XRPL (XRP Ledger) has been around since 2012 and is promoted as a decentralized, open-source blockchain designed for enterprise use. Ripple has signed partnerships involving tokenization projects with entities like the Dubai government and Guggenheim, announced in June 2025.

However, despite this high-profile activity, onchain analytics platforms such as DefiLlama show limited XRPL usage: just $81.8 million in total value locked (TVL) across all DeFi apps on the ledger.

Schwartz argues that this disconnect exists because most institutional activity happens offchain — meaning it doesn’t show up in DeFi metrics.

Ripple’s own data shows a downturn in XRPL activity during the first quarter of 2025. According to its May 2025 report:

New wallet creation and total transaction volume declined by 30–40%
Decentralized exchange (DEX) activity proved more resilient, dropping by only 16%

Ripple attributed this slowdown to a broader market trend also observed on blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Ripple Phases Out Its XRP Markets Report

Adding to the conversation around transparency, Ripple also announced in May that it would sunset its XRP Markets Report in its current form beginning Q2 2025.

“Ripple will continue to share relevant updates through its official channels,” the company said, including Ripple and RippleXDev.

The company said it hopes to provide more timely updates as more institutions adopt XRP and the conversation around onchain usage evolves.

Although Ripple’s leadership has responded to criticism, the broader community is still waiting for clearer, onchain metrics to back up the company’s institutional claims. With its legacy status and expanding partnerships, Ripple is now under growing pressure to align its narrative with transparent, verifiable data.

Whether the company will shift to a more open approach or continue its offchain-first strategy remains to be seen.