Arthur Britto, one of the original creators of Ripple and the XRP Ledger, posted on social media for the first time in 14 years. This unexpected activity created a wave of curiosity across the XRP community. Why now? Was something wrong? Or was something big about to happen?
As questions started flying, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, stepped in to clear the air. And he did it with his usual mix of honesty and humor.
David Schwartz Clears the Air
To clear up the confusion, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, confirmed that Britto really made the post. But Schwartz didn’t just stop there. He then joked about the possible reason behind Britto’s sudden tweet.
He said he thinks Britto set up a “deadman switch” years ago—a kind of safety plan that would send private keys to him if Britto didn’t post for 15 years and forgot to turn it off.
My favorite theory for @ahbritto‘s mysterious post is that many, many years ago he set up a deadman switch to send the private keys to his XRPL accounts to me if he doesn’t post for 15 years and he can’t remember how to shut it off.
— David ‘JoelKatz’ Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 24, 2025
While the comment was clearly made in a funny tone, it gave the community something important, confirmation that Britto’s account was not compromised and the post was intentional.
Why This Matters to the XRP Community
Arthur Britto is seen as one of the most mysterious figures in Ripple’s history. He’s long been associated with the bold idea that XRP was “designed to reach $10,000.” His complete silence over the years only added to that mystery.
So when he finally posted, it got everyone talking.
Although his tweet wasn’t followed by any major announcement, it sparked hope and multiple theories about his return to the public eye.
Is Something Big Coming?
For now, Britto’s true reason for posting remains a mystery. Maybe it was a technical check-in, a private joke, or the start of something bigger.
The incident was controversial after some community members noticed some concerning data. The revelations led to dire allegations, with some likening ZkSync to Mantra (OM). To some, ZKsync responded to the hack by dumping their assets at an accelerated pace.
“The ZkSync team has released 110 million tokens and sold 66 million. The price of ZK is going against the trend as the market is recovering, and it has immediately dropped by 15%. First OM, now ZK, this project seems to be heading in the wrong direction,” one user noted.
This bordered on embezzlement. However, in a recent development, the ZKsync Association revealed that the hacker returned 90% of the funds, effectively honoring the safe harbor deadline.
We’re pleased to share that the hacker has cooperated and returned the funds within the safe harbor deadline. As stated in the original Security Council message, the case is now considered resolved.
The assets are now in custody of the Security Council, and the decision on what… https://t.co/X0oejun9Tx
Through an April 21 post on X (Twitter), the ZKsync Security Council offered the hacker a 10% bounty if they returned the stolen funds, allowing a 72-hour window.
“To resolve this matter amicably in the spirit of safe harbor, we are offering a 10% bounty for your cooperation if you return 90% of the funds involved in the exploit,” ZK Nation shared on X.
As it happened, the bad actor heeded, transferring almost $5.7 million to the ZKsync Security Council across three transfers on April 23.
Specifically, they sent two transfers on the ZKsync Era blockchain. The first involved sending $1.83 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) to the ZKsync Security Council’s ZKsync Era address, and the second involved sending $2.47 million worth of ZKsync tokens.
Transfers made through the ZkSync Era blockchain. Source: explorer.zksync.io
In the third transaction, the ZKSync hacker sent 776 ETH worth approximately $1.4 million to the ZkSync Security Council’s Ethereum address.
Transfers made to the ZKsync Security Council’s ZKsync Era address. Source: Etherscan.io
With this, the ZKsync Association committed to publishing a final report revealing more details about the security incident.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the hacker followed instructions given by the ZKsync Security Council to the letter. Based on this, the case closes without further action.
It mirrors past incidents, including Ronin Bridge hackers returning $10 million worth of ETH and earning a $500,000 bounty.
Despite the turn of events, however, the ZK token continues to display bearish sentiment, down by nearly 2% in the last 24 hours. As of this writing, ZKsync’s token was trading for $0.06.
Meanwhile, not all hacking incidents honor safe harbor offers. Recently, Bybit launched a bounty program offering up to 10% of recovered funds to ethical hackers and cybersecurity experts.
This incentivized efforts to reclaim $1.4 billion in stolen assets. While some efforts to reclaim lost assets yielded results, the partial recovery was thanks to key industry players stepping in, not the exploiter.
The US Senate will allegedly vote on the Stablecoin bill before May 26. The bill, also known as the GENIUS ACT, will help provide clarity and regulate stablecoins, such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
US Senate To Vote On Stablecoin Bill Before Memorial Day
According to a Politico report, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has privately informed GOP Senators that the upper chamber will vote on the landmark stablecoin bill before Memorial Day, which comes up on May 26. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act forms part of this administration’s plans to provide regulatory clarity for the crypto industry.
The report noted that the bill will likely draw bipartisan support on the floor of the Senate, considering that five Democrats already voted in support at the Senate Banking Committee level. If passed, this bill could be the first major US crypto legislation, which will represent a massive win for the crypto industry, which has been clamouring for regulatory clarity for a while now.
Pro-crypto Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis also suggested that this report was true, as she reacted to it in an X post. The senator has been vocal about her support for digital assets and recently called out the Federal Reserve for its crypto policy withdrawal.
The leading stablecoin issuer, Tether, will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on whether the stablecoin bill passes or not. As CoinGape reported, the USDT issuer plans to launch a stablecoin exclusively for US clients. The firm’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, remarked that they are awaiting the new rules for stablecoin regulation before making their next move.
This development also comes amid reports that USDC issuer Circle could go public soon. The stablecoin had initially planned to file an IPO this month, but delayed the plan following Trump’s tariffs, which negatively impacted global markets. The USDC issuer just acquired a license from Abu Dhabi’s financial regulator to operate a money service business.
With Pi Network adopting GenAI futures during its Pi2Day celebration last month, analysts are turning bullish about Pi Coin price rally as the artificial intelligence (AI) market is likely to grow to $16 trillion by 2030. With the Pi Core team joining the AI bandwagon early, it could set the Pi token price on a
