David Schwartz, the Ripple chief technology officer (CTO) and a co-founder of the XRP Ledger, has published a post to share his take on how the crypto movement has changed now compared to the earlier years of its existence.

While responding to the comments under his post, Schwartz mentioned an earlier period of his life—roughly twenty years ago—when he worked for the US National Security Agency. This organization was completely opposite to the ideas of early crypto enthusiasts.

Ripple CTO criticizes crypto movement

David Schwartz tweeted that in his view the crypto movement “now looks less libertarian” than it ever has been. This fact makes him a little sad, the Ripple CTO admitted.

He did not go into details as to why he sees the crypto movement this way, though. It is likely that he might be referring to a recent X post issued by Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse, who spoke about crypto maximalism, criticizing it heavily. Garlinghouse said that he holds not only XRP, but also Bitcoin and Ethereum, suggesting that if a strategic US crypto reserve is ever created, it should include not only Bitcoin but also other cryptocurrencies with XRP among them.

The Ripple boss stressed that the crypto industry “has a real shot, here and now, to achieve the many goals” various crypto communities share. However, if communities of various coins continue to tear each other down, it will be “a zero-sum game.”

Schwartz approves of institutional crypto adoption

David Schwartz admitted: “Maybe it hasn't been very libertarian for a long time, but it definitely was very libertarian once.”

When a commentator suggested that perhaps the fact that Wall Street financial institutions are after crypto now, Schwartz said that there is “nothing anti-libertarian about wanting enterprises and institutions to adopt crypto.” He added that “if it's instead of government-backed fiat, that's perfectly consistent with libertarian values.”

As he responded to the comments, Schwartz revealed a curious fact – long before creating the XRPL and long before Satoshi Nakamoto made Bitcoin, Schwartz worked for the NSA – the organization that the crypto movement (being libertarian) was ideologically opposed to. That was in early 2001. He stated that he worked there before it “screwed up.”