The post Bons vs Schwartz on XRPL Centralization appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Bons critiques XRPL’s UNL as permissioned and prone to coordination risks. Schwartz says XRPL consensus blocks double-spends and curbs validator control on honest nodes. Debate centers on censorship risk, validator lists, and XRP’s claim to permissionless design. A public dispute over the design and decentralization of the XRP Ledger has grown between crypto researcher Justin Bons and Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz, drawing renewed attention to how the network achieves consensus and whether it can be considered permissionless. Bons argued that XRPL relies on a Unique Node List (UNL), which he described as effectively permissioned because divergence from the published list could result in a fork. He stated that this structure gives influence to entities associated with XRP, including the Ripple Foundation and the company itself.  We must reject all centralized “blockchains”! This includes Ripple, Canton, Stellar, Hedera & Algorand Centralization is not the future of finance; requiring permission from an authority is not decentralized! Do not be fooled by their lies, as the truth will set us free: 🧵… — Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) February 24, 2026 Bons also claimed that permissioned elements undermine credible neutrality and suggested that regulatory pressure, such as compliance with sanctions lists, could create conditions for censorship. In response, Schwartz rejected the assertion that Ripple or affiliated entities have “absolute power” over the chain. He said XRPL does not function the same way as Bitcoin and that each node independently counts validator agreement. According to Schwartz, an honest node would not accept a double-spend or censorship attempt simply because a validator supported it. He added that while validators could conspire to halt the chain from the perspective of honest nodes, they could not double-spend under XRPL’s design. Schwartz further stated that XRPL uses consensus rounds approximately every five seconds, during which validators vote on…

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Filed under: News - @ February 25, 2026 7:29 pm