Chief Technology Officer of Ripple David Schwartz recently made a great deal of waves in the cryptocurrency world when he talked about how he got involved with Ethereum early on and how much funds he made from it. Schwartz said that during Ethereum’s pre-ICO phase, he bought an enormous quantity of ETH (40,000). He chose this because he knows Vitalik Buterin, who started Ethereum.
Schwartz has worked with Ethereum since Buterin personally asked him to join before it went public in the pre-ICO phase. Schwartz put 20 BTC into Buterin’s project right away because he wanted to back it. This made it possible to buy the important ETH stocks.
Not only has Schwartz’s entry into Ethereum gotten a lot of attention, but so have his deeds since then. His earlier statements suggest that he quickly sold a significant quantity of altcoins when the price reached $1, using the funds to buy solar panels for his home.
Ripple’s Complex Crypto Journey
Even though some people might be skeptical about this choice, Schwartz played down those concerns by saying that it was common for early adopters of cryptocurrencies to lose out on chances, like Bitcoin’s rapid growth.
The story is made even more complicated by the fact that the backgrounds of Ripple and Ethereum are linked. Buterin’s short time at Ripple, which ended because of problems with his visa, shows how the two projects are linked.
But there have been problems in the last few years, which were made more severe by Ripple’s court battle with the SEC. Buterin’s criticisms of Ripple’s moves and what they might mean for Ethereum’s regulatory status have made things difficult between the two companies.
The price of Ethereum has gone through the roof and is now about $3,000 per ETH. Which means Schwartz’s early investment is now worth an enormous $120 million. The 20 Bitcoins that were used to buy ETH are now worth $1.3 million.