Schwartz Sets Condition for Unretiring: Working with Bougalis Again

David Schwartz, former Chief Technology Officer at Ripple and core developer of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), has expressed his condition for returning to work. In an interview with blockchain outlet U.Today on July 23, Schwartz revealed that he would only consider unretiring if he got to work with Nick Bougalis again.

Bougalis is a key figure in the early development of XRPL and was one of the first employees at Ripple, leading the core engineering team for over a decade. He is also credited as a contributor on 3 patents related to advanced cryptography that have become part of the technical foundation of today's distributed networks.

Schwartz retired on January 1, 2026 and has been providing selective advice as Ripple's honorary CTO since then. However, he remains involved in supporting releases such as the XRPL 3.2.0 update carried out in June.

The chances of a reunion between Schwartz and Bougalis are slim, given that Bougalis left Ripple in 2022 to take charge of technology at the Algorand Foundation in late 2025. Nevertheless, this remark highlights the significance of technical contributions and peer evaluations in the industry, even after developers split into competing blockchain ecosystems.