Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz has argued that blockchain systems could function more effectively without incentive-based models. Schwartz contends that incentives such as mining and staking introduce unnecessary costs and misaligned interests, suggesting that users have inherent motivations to maintain system functionality. He revisited ideas from a 2020 presentation, emphasizing that blockchains need consensus on transaction order rather than costly incentives to address the double-spend problem. Schwartz criticized proof-of-work systems for their high operational costs, which he believes tie network security to market value and lead to centralization. He also questioned staking models, noting that they can create similar centralization issues and additional costs for users. Highlighting the XRP Ledger's approach, Schwartz explained that it eliminates incentives, relying instead on simple rules and user interest to maintain fairness and low costs. He concluded that removing artificial incentives could lead to cheaper, fairer blockchain networks.