[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] David Schwartz (데이비드 슈워츠), a key designer of Ripple's XRP Ledger, has drawn a line against moves to interpret his social media post as a coded signal linked to XRP.

On Sept. 22 local time, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that Schwartz addressed speculation around a post of his that spread on X, formerly Twitter. He said the post was personal humour and not an investment signal.

The controversy began with a bagpipes GIF Schwartz posted during an online dispute. Bagpipes are seen as a long-standing symbol in the XRP community. In the past, an anonymous figure known as 'Bearableguy123' posted a cryptic message suggesting the XRP price could rise to $589, and one of the representative images at the time showed an astronaut with bagpipes against a moon backdrop.

The image was later consumed like a meme in the XRP community and appeared repeatedly in related memecoins and NFT projects.

Some users linked Schwartz's bagpipes GIF to the earlier post and interpreted it as another signal of a price rise. One user even noted that bagpipes were traditionally used to rally troops or signal an advance.

Schwartz responded directly. He wrote, "In other words, when the pipes started playing, it often meant it was time to move," but concluded by writing, "away from the bagpipes." It effectively denied the community's proposed code interpretation.

Schwartz has long distanced himself from various conspiracy theories and excessive price projections surrounding XRP. He has said claims such as a "magic button", court-imposed restrictions on moving XRP, and a secret government plan to make XRP the world's reserve currency are not true.

He also warned against using such stories as the basis for investment decisions. He suggested that putting money, time and emotions into poorly supported narratives could lead investors to deceive themselves.

He was especially sceptical of forecasts that XRP could rise to about $10,000 per token over the long term. Schwartz offered a market logic that if major investors believed there was a high likelihood that price would be reached within a set period, that expectation should have been reflected much more strongly in the current XRP price.

Schwartz does not, however, reject the XRP community's meme culture altogether. He has at times lightly engaged with community culture, such as changing his avatar or interacting with a trustline. He has been clear, though, in drawing a line against jokes or memes being taken as actual financial advice or investment signals.

The latest bagpipes controversy is seen in the same context. It carries the message that rather than interpreting social media posts by Ripple executives or XRP Ledger figures as coded predictions of specific prices or market moves, people should judge based on actual statements and market data.

With long-standing symbols and memes still influential in the XRP community, Schwartz again stressed that attention should focus on objective information and market logic rather than "secret signals" or conspiracy theories.

David Schwartz just posted a GIF of bagpipes. Historically, bagpipes were used to rally troops, lead marches and signal movement forward. In other words, when the pipes started playing, it often meant it was time to move... Something was about to begin. Probably something... As Bearableguy showed us.