A 2012 agreement involving Ripple co-founders Chris Larsen, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto has resurfaced, drawing renewed attention after being circulated on social media amid Ripple’s $1.2 billion acquisition of institutional brokerage platform Hidden Road.
Lifetime rights and XRP allocation unveiled
The document, signed on September 17, 2012, confirms that Britto, along with Larsen and McCaleb, played a foundational role in developing the distributed, open-source payment and virtual currency platform known as Ripple.
According to the agreement, 80% of all Ripple Credits—now called XRP—would be allocated to the company. Britto was designated to receive 2% of the total, as recorded on the official ledger, which the founders expected to comprise 100 billion credits.
To safeguard Britto’s share, the agreement stipulated that if a revised ledger or new ledger within 36 months reduced his percentage, he had the right to claim additional credits at no charge, restoring his grant to 2%.
The contract also addressed intellectual property. Britto agreed to open-source his contributions simultaneously with the other founders. In return for assigning his intellectual property rights to the company, Britto obtained a lifetime, fully paid license to create applications or new features for the Ripple protocol.
Britto received a 2% allocation of all Ripple Credits and a perpetual license to develop on the Ripple platform, according to the signed agreement from September 2012.
Theory connects Britto’s rights to Hidden Road
Echo X, a prominent crypto community member, shared this document on X, highlighting Britto’s “lifetime rights” to develop within the Ripple ecosystem. The post referred to Britto as the “silent founder” and raised questions about whether his lifetime license might have enabled him to quietly participate in subsequent Ripple-associated projects.
Echo X then speculated about Britto’s potential connection to Hidden Road, the platform acquired by Ripple for $1.2 billion. The thread questioned if Britto’s development rights could have included work on infrastructure links between Hidden Road and RippleNet, Ripple’s enterprise blockchain solution for cross-border payments.
Further connections were suggested by examining the listed address for Hidden Road and clues from the Fuzzy Bear project, implying possible ties among Britto, Hidden Road, and XRP. However, the leaked agreement does not reference Hidden Road, RippleNet, Fuzzy Bear, or post-2012 ventures, and these ideas remain speculative.
Mini dictionary: Hidden Road, an institutional prime brokerage platform, facilitates digital asset trading and acts as a bridge between institutional investors and various liquidity sources. Ripple acquired Hidden Road in a major deal aimed at expanding enterprise offerings.
Ripple executives respond
David Schwartz, who served as Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, commented on the document and specifically addressed a clause granting Britto a lifetime license to build on Ripple’s platform.
Schwartz remarked, “The last sentence of Section 3 always puzzled me. I can’t imagine what anyone thought he would need a license to do.” This observation provides historical context for the seldom-discussed section cited by Echo X.
Schwartz questioned the necessity for Britto’s lifetime license to develop, indicating the clause remained a curiosity to Ripple leadership.
At present, only Britto’s 2% XRP allocation and his lifetime platform development rights are established facts. The broader connection to Hidden Road remains unverified and is presented as speculation within the crypto community.
