Ripple Listing Fee Story Sparks Debate Over Industry Risk-Subsidies

Ripple's listing fee story has been making waves in the crypto community after a viral post recirculated CTO David Schwartz's 2023 remarks.

Initially, Schwartz described the scenario as 'completely made up, hypothetical' where an unnamed exchange demanded millions of dollars to list XRP. However, the recent social media post dropped the 'hypothetical' framing, rebranding it as a confirmed 'mafia protection racket' allegedly involving Coinbase.

The story revolves around Ripple being approached by an unnamed exchange with a hefty listing fee demand. Despite the exchange's private admission that they would have listed XRP long ago if Ripple didn't exist, the deal was struck after months of negotiations.

Schwartz's original point was that Ripple essentially paid money to prevent their existence from being used as an excuse to block XRP from the market. However, the recent post has reframed this discussion, sparking renewed debate on industry risk-subsidies and misconduct.