Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has marked the 14th anniversary of XRP, one of the leading cryptocurrencies by market value, in a post on social media. Garlinghouse described being part of the XRP community as one of the greatest honors of his life, highlighting the network’s evolution as the result of a collective effort.
Controversy reignites over XRP’s true anniversary
In his message, Garlinghouse expressed gratitude to developers, validators, businesses, and community members across the ecosystem. However, his celebratory post reignited an ongoing debate about XRP’s actual launch date. The anniversary triggered renewed discussions within the crypto community, where the precise birthday of XRP has long been a hot topic.
Brad Garlinghouse emphasized that being part of the XRP community is still one of his greatest honors and insisted the network has reached its current milestones thanks not to any single person or company, but through the wide chain of contributions from developers to validators.
The main point of debate centers on whether June is the correct month to mark XRP’s anniversary. Some users argue that the present version of XRP is technically different from what existed 14 years ago. According to this view, XRP’s real 14th anniversary will fall on December 23 of this year.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz defends continuity
Ripple CTO David Schwartz weighed in against these criticisms, defending the continuity of the network. He questioned whether changing a bank’s accounting software would mean the money itself has changed, drawing a parallel with Ethereum’s transition from proof of work to proof of stake, which did not alter the underlying asset.
David Schwartz maintained that changing a bank’s accounting system would not make its money any different, just as Ethereum’s shift from PoW to PoS didn’t erase its original identity. He argued that a similar logic should apply to XRP’s continuity.
Despite these arguments, opposition within the community persists. Critics claim that the XRP prior to December 2012 is structurally distinct at the technical level and no longer exists on today’s modern XRP Ledger.
Missing data from early months fuels further doubt
At the heart of the debate are missing records from XRP Ledger’s earliest period. The community has learned that the network’s oldest ledger data, beginning in June 2012, is irretrievably incomplete. Due to a server error, header information from the first 32,569 ledgers was erased.
This data loss makes it impossible to trace transactions seamlessly back to the true genesis block. Full validation of the chain only starts from ledger number 32,570, while the unconfirmed period covers the first seven months, from June to December 2012.
Mini glossary: The XRP Ledger is a distributed ledger system that records all XRP transactions. Ledger headers contain vital technical data linking each entry to its predecessor, and missing headers make it difficult to independently verify the network’s earliest chain segments.
Critics are focusing precisely on this technical gap. Some community members insist that the ledger’s uninterrupted and fully verifiable history only begins in late 2012, and therefore, the true “official” start of modern XRP should also be considered from that period. This viewpoint helps explain the objections to celebrating the anniversary in June.
