VanEck Exec Questions XRP's Utility

Matthew Sigel, the director of research for digital assets at VanEck, recently riled up the XRP community by implying that the popular altcoin does not actually have any utility. 

“Dear XRP maxis, I may never understand what your ‘blockchain’ actually does, but I’ll always respect the passion required to pretend it does something,” Sigel said in a caustic social media post.

In a follow-up post, he further questions whether there is real developer interest or meaningful applications being built on XRP, which is a common metric for a blockchain’s viability.

Bitcoin comparison 

He has also compared Bitcoin’s adoption by large, institutional actors and even governments to XRP’s relatively modest adoption.

VanEck’s crypto expert has noted that retail investors like university endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and even a central bank have invested in Bitcoin. 

Moreover, a total of 12 countries are now mining Bitcoin with direct government support, which is due to the cryptocurrency’s synergies with the electrical grid.

Pouring cold water on BlackRock collaboration

After facing some pushback from the XRP Army, Sigel has also addressed Ripple’s collaborations (like with BlackRock and OntoFinance) and initiatives, questioning whether they actually benefit XRP holders financially.

He has listed economic mechanisms like transaction fees, revenue sharing, or token burns, arguing that XRP doesn’t have clear mechanisms linking its token price to the adoption of Ripple’s projects.

Ignoring ETF hype 

VanEck has been actively involved in crypto‑ETF filings for other assets. For example, it filed to list a spot Solana SOLUSD ETF in the U.S. 

However, VanEck did not apply to launch an XRP ETF, which puts it in the same camp with icy financial giants as Fidelity and BlackRock.