David Schwartz revealed Nik Bougalis remains the only person capable of convincing him to leave retirement for full-time engineering again. Bougalis helped build the XRP Ledger core infrastru
Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz has revealed that only one person could convince him to return to full-time software development. According to a post on X, Schwartz named former Ripple engineer Nik Bougalis as the only individual capable of pulling him out of retirement, underscoring the respect he still holds for his longtime colleague.
Schwartz retired from his operational role at Ripple on Jan. 1, 2026, after spending more than a decade helping build the company’s blockchain technology. Although he now serves as CTO Emeritus and occasionally advises on technical matters, he made it clear that a permanent return would depend on working with Bougalis again.
According to Schwartz, neither financial incentives nor the scale of a project would change his decision. Instead, he pointed directly to Bougalis, making his statement one of the strongest public endorsements he has given a former teammate.
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Bougalis joined Ripple as the company’s eighth employee and spent nearly ten years leading engineering work on the XRP Ledger. During his tenure, he helped develop much of the network’s core infrastructure and contributed to several technologies that shaped the blockchain’s long-term development.
Additionally, Bougalis is credited with three Ripple patents covering advanced cryptography. Those innovations later became part of the technological foundation supporting the XRP Ledger.
However, Bougalis left Ripple in 2022 before becoming chief technology officer at the Algorand Foundation near the end of 2025. Consequently, both engineers now work within different blockchain ecosystems, making another collaboration unlikely.
The one thing that could almost make me think seriously about unretiring would be getting to work with @nbougalis again.
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) July 23, 2026
Schwartz’s comments highlighted that professional respect has remained unchanged despite their separate career paths. Rather than discussing competing networks, he focused entirely on Bougalis’ engineering ability and the impact he had while they worked together.
Schwartz has occasionally joked about retirement since stepping away from Ripple’s daily operations. Earlier this year, he humorously suggested that XRP’s rally happened because he retired. However, his latest remarks carried a more serious tone and centered on the one person he believes would make returning worthwhile.
Schwartz continues contributing to Ripple in a limited capacity as CTO Emeritus, remaining involved in selected technical initiatives, including support for the XRPL 3.2.0 release earlier this year.
Nevertheless, his latest statement suggests that his days of writing code full-time are effectively over unless Bougalis becomes part of the picture, as Schwartz noted that no other individual would be enough to persuade him to leave retirement.
His comments also offer a rare glimpse into the professional relationships that helped shape the XRP Ledger during its early years, reinforcing the lasting influence Bougalis had on one of Ripple’s most respected engineers.
Schwartz’s latest remarks highlight the partnership that helped build the XRP Ledger, with only Nik Bougalis, according to his own words, capable of persuading him to return to full-time engineering and become the sole exception to his retirement plans.
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The post Former Ripple CTO Says Only One Person Can Pull Him Out of Retirement appeared first on 36Crypto.
