Some categories of blockchain entrepreneurs and developers are not allowed to claim Spark tokens in an airdrop launched by Flare Networks. Thus, their participation in Flare, the highly valued "utility fork" of XRP instruments, is uncertain.
Did Mr. Schwartz break the rules of Flare?
In his recent tweet, eagle-eyed XRP user @Brother_Angelus shared part of an official explanatory post by Flare Networks covering the eligibility of XRPL accounts to join the Spark airdrop. He emphasized that no one related to Ripple Labs can claim the backbone assets of a new network.
@JoelKatz David, serious question about the Flare snapshot. Ripple employees (& certain ex) are not eligible yet I saw your JoelKatz wallet was activated for the snapshot. Can you clear this up? Smart XRP hodlers are suspicious about 'redeeming'. #MPM pic.twitter.com/WM6OwDX2Hd
— Brother in Arms ★ (@Brother_Angelus) September 25, 2020
Despite that, he spotted that Ripple CTO David Schwartz has set up his wallet for the upcoming distribution. As such, @Brother_Angelus decided to find out whether this action violates the airdrop rules.
Mr. Schwartz explained that he was never associated with Ripple Labs. The whistleblower just confused Ripple Inc. ("Ripple The Company") and Ripple Labs. Thus, Mr. Schwartz can participate in the airdrop with his XRP as a valid claimant with no restrictions.
The Ripple CTO admitted that he has many reasons to participate in the upcoming event. Meanwhile, his Spark strategy is very simple:
Show support, show it was safe, sell my tokens ASAP 4 $'s.
Jed McCaleb is left behind by the Spark airdrop. Why?
Representatives of Flare Networks, the entity behind the upcoming fork, have applauded Mr. Schwartz's decision to claim the tokens of their network. They also clarified that the "personal" XRP bags of Ripple employees can be used in the airdrop.
However, Flare Networks announced that Jed McCaleb, creator of Stellar and Ripple, will not be able to claim Spark due to his present attitude towards XRP:
We took the decision to exclude Jed as the consistent sales of XRP having a negative effect on the psychology of the market make it clear he is not an XRP supporter.
There is nothing personal behind this solution, a Flare representative claims, but the fork initiators reserve the right to launch their network in the way that is most natural for them.