VanEck Exec Questions XRP’s Utility

Matthew Sigel, the director of research for digital assets at VanEck, recently angry the XRP community implies that the popular altcoin doesn’t really have any utility.

“Dear XRP maxis, I have never understood what your ‘blockchain’ actually does, but I still respect the passion required to pretend it does something,” Sigel said in a recent social media post.

In a follow-up post, he also asks if there is real developer interest or significant applications being built on XRP, which is a common metric for the viability of a blockchain.

Bitcoin comparison

He also compared the adoption of Bitcoin by major institutional players and even governments to the relatively modest adoption of XRP.

Crypto expert VanEck noted that retail investors such as university endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and even a central bank have invested in Bitcoin. In addition, a total of 12 countries are now mining Bitcoin with direct government support, which is due to the synergies of cryptocurrency with the electrical network.

Cold verse on the BlackRock collaboration

After facing some pushback from the XRP Army, Sigel also addressed Ripple’s partnerships (such as BlackRock and OntoFinance) and initiatives, asking if they really benefit XRP holders financially.

He listed economic mechanisms such as transaction fees, revenue sharing, or token burns, arguing that XRP does not have clear mechanisms that link its token price to the adoption of Ripple’s projects.

Ignore the ETF hype

VanEck has been actively involved in crypto-ETF filings for other assets. For example, he submitted to list a spot Solana (SOL) ETF in the United States

However, VanEck did not apply for an XRP ETF, which puts him in the same field with frozen financial giants like Fidelity and BlackRock.