Galaxy Digital CEO cautions XRP and Cardano that they will need to demonstrate actual utility as the crypto market shifts past hype to business-centric assets that can be valued.  

The stark warning was issued by Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, who stated that XRP and Cardano need to demonstrate actual utility in the near future. The crypto expert is not sure that two big tokens will not be eliminated during the evolution of the industry.  

On Friday, Novogratz had an interview with the Head of Research at Galaxy, Alex Thorn. He directly challenged the survival of both projects. “Can Ripple hold it together? Are you able to keep Cardano at the helm, as the billionaire investor posed?  

The Market’s Brutal New Reality

Cryptocurrency is not a shift towards narrative tokens. Projects should now be able to show business value. Novogratz considers that the upcoming 1-3 years will be the time between winners and losers.  

Bitcoin is a pass in the form of digital money. Other tokens are now subjected to more scrutiny. They will be appreciated as conventional businesses in terms of income and real utilization.  

XRP is listed at position five in the world with a market capitalization of 115 billion. Cardano is ranked at the 12th position with a valuation of $13-14billion. Both have diehards and aggressive plans.  

However, the figures speak otherwise. As per the CryptoQuant data, there are 16,704 active addresses of XRP at present. Cardano had a little over 19,000 active addresses.  

Solana continues to get millions of active users. DeFi applications, meme coins, and other projects are run on the network. Solana has a market cap of 72 billion, even though it is ranked at position eight in the world.  

Communities Versus Actual Adoption

Novogratz admitted that both tokens have a solid following. He specifically referred to the leadership of the community by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. He has preserved Charles Hoskinson, who is such a blessing to his soul, with a blockchain that people do not actually utilize much, said Novogratz.  

The Galaxy Digital CEO complimented community resilience. But he doubted that loyalty is just enough any longer. He, too, has enjoyed a good community as XRP. Do you have a hard time holding it when you have more and more choices? He said.  

XRP was developed based on cross-border payments via RippleNet. The payment rail is used by banks and fintech companies. According to critics, organic activity is still too low to warrant the XRP’s huge valuation.  

Cardano positions itself as a smart contract platform. The project focuses on scholarly and peer-reviewed development and rigor. However, there are real-life uses that have not been fully developed yet.  

The Future Belongs to Business Tokens

Novogratz identified new models as the way to go in the industry. He used the example of Hyperliquid to describe the value-based cryptocurrency. The decentralized exchange earns real revenue and destroys 98% of profits via token buybacks.  

This provides the token holders with the economics of equity. Conventional finance works in this manner effectively. Cryptocurrency might have to operate under similar concepts in the future.  

The investor forecasts significant structural changes in the future. Exchanges and crypto wallets will transform into neobanks. These exchanges will provide investment products, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. Everybody will be trying to create the same kind of business, which is, let me give you a bank and a wallet, Novogratz clarified.  

This change will require years to be achieved. However, it will overhaul the role of crypto in mainstream financing. The projects that lack business models are likely to perform poorly in this new environment.  

Recently, XRP has been introduced to the spot ETF in the United States. The products took a short time to accumulate 1billion assets. XRP is trading at about 1.84 and has lost about 14 percent since the beginning of the year.  

Cardano is not superior to valuation pressure and adoption. The two projects now need to show that they are not just about fanbases. The time is running out to demonstrate practical use and quantifiable contribution.

The post Can XRP and Cardano Survive Crypto’s Evolution? appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ December 30, 2025 6:00 am