Mike Novogratz warns the16,703 active addresses holding XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) can’t justify its $115 billion market cap, but social media chatter is nevertheless debating major institutional accumulation.
What Happened: Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY) founder and CEO Mike Novogratz challenged XRP and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) to demonstrate genuine utility beyond loyal communities as the cryptocurrency market matures from hype-driven narratives to fundamentals-focused assets.
“Can Ripple hold it together? Can Cardano hold it together?” Novogratz said during a conversation with Galaxy’s Head of Research Alex Thorn on Friday.
He highlighted that while XRP and Cardano boast resilient fan bases, their on-chain activity remains relatively weak.
“Charles Hoskinson, bless his soul, he’s kept the Cardano community with a blockchain that people don’t really use a lot,” Novogratz said.
“Can you keep it together when there are more and more options?” he added.
The Bull Case: ‘Shadow Price’ And Triple-Digit Dreams
DAG Family Office CEO Jake Claver claimed on X that “major institutions are stacking up XRP behind the scenes while keeping the public in the dark. The current price is merely a shadow of what’s coming.”
He argues that XRP will transform into “the foundation of international finance” and offers “nothing in crypto space offers this level of certainty and potential for massive returns.”
In December itself, Claver said he was “99.99999% confident” XRP would make a major move before year-end and reiterated his belief that the token could eventually reach triple-digit prices, citing ETF expansion, shifting global liquidity, regulatory clarity, and macroeconomic disruptions.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
On-chain metrics underscore Novogratz’s concerns as the number of active XRP addresses was 16,703, according to data source CryptoQuant.
Cardano’s active addresses tallied over 19,000.
Both numbers are significantly lower than Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), which typically sees millions in active addresses driven by DeFi, memes, and apps.
Yet the market cap rankings tell a different story.
Solana, despite its far higher network usage, sits seventh globally with a market value near $72 billion.
XRP, by contrast, ranks fifth with a market capitalization around $115 billion, while Cardano’s ADA, with similarly muted activity, trades near $13–14 billion and holds roughly the 12th spot.
The Shift To Business Fundamentals
Novogratz argued the broader market is evolving: Tokens that aren’t “money” like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) will be valued like traditional businesses based on revenue, usage, and measurable value.
He contrasted community-driven tokens with emerging examples like Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE), a decentralized perpetuals exchange that generates real revenue and burns most profits to buy back its token, creating equity-like economics.
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