Matthew Sigel, the director of analysis for digital property at VanEck, just lately riled up the XRP group by implying that the favored altcoin doesn’t even have any utility.
“Expensive XRP maxis, I’ll by no means perceive what your ‘blockchain’ truly does, however I’ll at all times respect the eagerness required to fake it does one thing,” Sigel stated in a current social media publish.
In a follow-up publish, he’s additional questioning whether or not there may be actual developer curiosity or significant functions being constructed on XRP, which is a typical metric for a blockchain’s viability.
Bitcoin comparability
He has additionally in contrast Bitcoin’s adoption by giant, institutional actors and even governments to XRP’s comparatively modest adoption.
VanEck’s crypto professional has famous that retail buyers like college endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and even a central financial institution have invested in Bitcoin. Furthermore, a complete of 12 international locations at the moment are mining Bitcoin with direct authorities help, which is because of the cryptocurrency’s synergies with {the electrical} grid.
Pouring chilly on BlackRock collaboration
After going through some pushback from the XRP Military, Sigel has additionally addressed Ripple’s collaborations (like with BlackRock and OntoFinance) and initiatives, questioning whether or not they truly profit XRP holders financially
He has listed financial mechanisms like transaction charges, income sharing, or token burns, arguing that XRP doesn’t have clear mechanisms linking its token worth to the adoption of Ripple’s tasks.
Ignoring ETF hype
VanEck has been actively concerned in crypto‑ETF filings for different property. For instance, it filed to listing a spot Solana (SOL) ETF within the U.S.
Nonetheless, VanEck didn’t file for an XRP ETF, which places it in the identical camp with icy monetary giants as Constancy and BlackRock.

