Ripple XRP-Linked Payments Token and Smart Contract Platform must demonstrate genuine utility beyond loyal communities as the cryptocurrency market matures from hype-driven narratives to fundamentals-focused assets, Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said in a recent interview.
“Can Ripple stay together? Can Cardano stay together?” Novogratz said during a conversation with Galaxy head of research Alex Thorn on Friday.
He highlighted that while XRP and Cardano’s native token ADA have resilient fan bases, their on-chain activity remains relatively weak.
“Charles Hoskinson, bless him, has kept the Cardano community going with a blockchain that people don’t really use much,” Novogratz said. “You’ve had a strong community like XRP. Can you keep it together when there are more and more options?”
Novogratz argued that the broader market is evolving: non-“money” tokens like Bitcoin will be valued like traditional businesses based on revenue, usage, and measurable value.
Fintech company Ripple uses the XRP token as a bridging asset for fast, low-cost cross-border payments through its RippleNet network, with partnerships between banks and fintech companies. However, critics have long noted that its organic activity remains low and does not justify XRP’s multibillion-dollar market valuation.
XRP currently has a market capitalization of approximately $115 billion, ranking fifth among cryptocurrencies, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Cardano’s ADA is between $13 and $14 billion, ranking it 12th.
The on-chain metrics underscore Novogratz’s concerns about adoption. At press time, the number of active XRP addresses was 16,703, according to data source CryptoQuant.
Active Cardano addresses totaled more than 19,000. Both figures are significantly lower than other projects like Solana, which typically sees millions in active addresses powered by DeFi, memes, and apps. Solana’s SOL token has a market capitalization of $72 billion, the seventh largest in the world.
Novogratz compared community-driven tokens to emerging examples like Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual exchange that generates real income and burns the majority of the profits to buy back its token, creating an equity-like economy.
