Ripple CTO Emeritus Opens Up About the First-Ever Email to Mention XRP ⋆ ZyCrypto

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Ripple’s journey with XRP has a fascinating origin story, and now the former Chief Technology Officer has pulled back the curtain. In an exclusive reveal, he shares the very first email that ever mentioned XRP—offering a rare glimpse into the early days of one of crypto’s most influential tokens.

First Email to Mention XRP Revealed

Schwartz shared this in a recent X post, confirming that the email dated back to February 2013—just months after the XRP Ledger went live in mid-2012.

Back in early 2013, XRP was virtually unknown, trading at a mere $0.00587. No major exchanges listed it, and almost nobody was trading it. Even Bitcoin was only around $27, proof of just how nascent and untapped the crypto world was.

Schwartz revealed that the email came from Vinnie Falco. In it, Falco introduced himself as a member of the BitcoinTalk forum, explaining that he had created a Ripple account to explore the technology. He then requested that Schwartz send some XRP to a wallet labeled “Vinnie.”

At the time, requests like this were routine. Early adopters weren’t chasing profits—they were curious, eager to explore how the technology worked. XRP circulated mostly through informal peer-to-peer sharing rather than formal exchanges, reflecting the experimental spirit of the early crypto community.

Interestingly, Falco didn’t stop at being an early user—he went on to join Ripple and became a key contributor to its development. At the San Francisco-based company, Falco focused on the company’s core systems and created Beast, a C++ library that powers HTTP and WebSocket communications.

How Google Auto-Complete’s Inventor Got Involved

When asked whether he fulfilled Falco’s request, Schwartz indicated that he did not. Instead, Alex Kravets, the co-founder of Google Auto-Complete, stepped in and sent the tokens. Blockchain data shows that Kravets transferred 1,000 XRP to Falco on February 16, 2013.

At the time of the transaction, the 1,000 XRP was worth just $5.87— roughly $0.00587 per token. Today, that same amount would be valued at roughly $1,530— highlighting the massive growth of the asset over time. XRP, which is used by Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions, was changing hands at around $1.52 at press time, per CoinGecko.