A senior VanEck executive has reignited a long-running debate over XRP’s real-world utility, questioning both the relevance of the XRP Ledger and the economic case for holding the token—just as a new spot ETF has posted the strongest launch numbers of any fund this year.

Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, took direct aim at supporters on X, opening with a post that combined sarcasm and skepticism. “Dear XRP maxis,” he wrote, “I may never understand what your ‘blockchain’ actually does, but I’ll always respect the passion required to pretend it does something. So keep hustling!”

XRP Utility Debate Reignites

The tone set the stage for a thread that pushed beyond memes into pointed questions about developer activity and value accrual. In a follow-up post, Sigel asked

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