Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has revealed the unexpected story behind an iconic XRP-themed T-shirt he wore at Swell, Ripple's annual conference, explaining how a technical milestone on the XRP Ledger became associated with a memorable price moment in the asset's history.

Schwartz, one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), was spotted wearing a T-shirt featuring a speedometer-like inscription pointing to the number 100. The design quickly drew curiosity from members of the XRP community, who wondered what the figure was meant to represent. The speedometer motif itself points to transaction throughput, a metric measured in transactions per second that is commonly used to gauge how much activity a blockchain network can handle.

The question surfaced on X, where user @unknowDLT asked Schwartz about the origin of the shirt seen in an image accompanying his tweet. "At this point, could you clearly explain what the T-shirt you're wearing means?" the user asked.

@unknowDLT It was created to commemorate XRPL hitting 100 TPS. When we commissioned it, $XRP was around 30 cents. By the time we got it, $XRP was $1. So everyone thought that's what $XRP at 100 meant and we just went with it. — David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 30, 2026

Schwartz explained that the T-shirt was originally created to commemorate the XRP Ledger hitting 100 transactions per second (TPS). "When the T-shirt was commissioned, $XRP was around 30 cents. By the time we got it, $XRP was $1," he said.

That timing led some members of the XRP community to assume the "100" on the shirt referred to XRP reaching a price of $1 rather than the network's transaction speed. "So everyone thought that's what $XRP at 100 meant and we just went with it," Schwartz added. The confusion stuck because both interpretations hinge on the same round number: 100 transactions per second for the ledger, 100 cents for the price.

XRP Ledger throughput boost

In the X discussion, the Ripple CTO Emeritus did not share exact details on when the T-shirt was commissioned. XRP also traded around 30 cents ($0.30) at several points in its price history, making it difficult to pinpoint the timing from his post alone. A walk-through of the XRP Ledger's throughput chronology may provide a hint.

When performance testing began in February 2015, the XRP Ledger sustained 80 transactions per second. Incremental improvements were made over time as opportunities were uncovered.

Between March and June 2015, the XRP Ledger sustained between 120 and 490 transactions per second. In October 2015, the network saw a major throughput boost to 525 transactions per second, and in the following year, that figure nearly doubled to 1,100 transactions per second.

In July 2017, the XRP Ledger was demonstrated to sustain a throughput of 1,500 transactions per second, a level that remains in place to this day — roughly 15 times the 100 TPS milestone the shirt was originally meant to commemorate.