The XRP Ledger Foundation has named David “JoelKatz” Schwartz—one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger—as an honorary board member, bringing a veteran technical voice into the organization as it reorganizes leadership and sharpens its stewardship of the ledger.
The appointment follows the Foundation’s announcement of a new operating team led by Executive Director Brett Mollin. Other senior additions include Denis Angell as chief technology officer, Rene Huijsen heading operations, and Hussein “Vet” Zangana in charge of community. Together, the moves signal a concerted push by the XRPLF to strengthen technical governance, community engagement and institutional coordination across the ecosystem.
“We’re honored to welcome David Schwartz as an Honorary Board Member of the XRP Ledger Foundation,” the XRPLF wrote on X. “As one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, David brings deep technical insight and a long-term perspective that will help strengthen the Foundation’s technical stewardship of the ecosystem. Welcome, David!”
Schwartz’s return to a formal advisory role drew immediate attention across the XRP community—not only because of his central role in the ledger’s design but because it comes after his transition away from full-time work at Ripple. In response to a user on X asking why he left Ripple and whether he had sold his XRP, Schwartz described the move as personal: “I left Ripple because I had been working non-stop since the end of 2011 and felt it was time to stop doing this full time.” He added that he still holds some XRP but has been “drastically reducing” his crypto holdings since 2013 due to a “psychological aversion to risk.”
Rather than stepping back from the ecosystem entirely, Schwartz appears to be shifting into a broader advisory and infrastructure-facing role. He outlined a packed slate of current commitments: “Board member at Ripple, advising Evernorth, running a large hub, honorary board member at XRPLF, going to XRPL events, and regular meetings with devs.”
Details on the new XRPLF day-to-day team underscore the Foundation’s focus areas. Mollin will coordinate strategy across engineering, community, operations and partnerships. Denis Angell—described by the XRPLF as one of the most prolific XRPL code contributors—moves from XRPL Labs to oversee engineering, amendment processes and technical standards. Huijsen brings payments and operations experience from Ripple and work linked to the Bank for International Settlements’ cross-border interoperability efforts. Zangana will manage community, communications, validator and developer engagement, events and ecosystem storytelling.
The Foundation said it is “starting to collaborate with XRP ecosystem stakeholders to advance every area of community and technology — openly, transparently and with the public,” framing the hires as part of a more coordinated, public-facing approach to XRPL governance and growth.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.46.
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