Is XRP Really ‘Nothing’? Exclusive: What Hayes and Hoskinson Are Missing About Ripple

Arthur Hayes called XRP “absolutely nothing” last week. Charles Hoskinson took a swipe at Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s approach to regulation. Edo Farina, an analyst and XRP supporter, addressed both in an exclusive interview with Coinpedia.

Hayes: Price Loyalty, Not Substance

Hayes framed his argument around early price gains rather than technology. “You could be like Cardano or Ripple and do absolutely nothing,” he said. “Lie to your people that you’re going to do something about it. However, people got this thing really, really cheap. You allowed them to get rich with you.” The suggestion is that communities built on early wealth creation remain loyal regardless of what a project actually delivers.

Farina acknowledged Hayes’s credentials but questioned the premise. “Arthur Hayes is one of the smartest macro traders in crypto, but trading and building financial infrastructure are two completely different things,” he said. “His portfolio decisions are based on market cycles and liquidity, not necessarily on which technology will underpin the next financial system.”

“If XRP were nothing, we wouldn’t see regulated stablecoins like RLUSD, tokenization initiatives, institutional custody, and major financial players building around the XRPL ecosystem,” Farina said. “Dismissing years of enterprise adoption ignores a lot of evidence.”

Hoskinson vs Garlinghouse

Hoskinson criticised Garlinghouse for accepting imperfect legislation in the name of progress, specifically around the CLARITY Act, paraphrasing his position as wanting to simply get something done. His broader concern is that XRP creates no organic buy demand for holders, making the token dependent on Ripple’s institutional relationships rather than network activity.

Farina attributed the friction to competition. “Cardano, Ripple, Ethereum, Solana, everyone is competing for institutional adoption,” he said. “Brad has taken a very regulatory-first approach, which is not popular with everyone in crypto. Some people believe crypto should remain completely outside the traditional financial system.”

“I don’t see regulation as the enemy,” Farina said. “Institutions won’t move trillions of dollars through anonymous protocols with no legal clarity.”

The Underlying Divide

The criticism from both men reflects a wider disagreement about what crypto is for. Ripple’s approach is to work within existing financial infrastructure rather than replace it, which appeals to banks and asset managers but frustrates those who entered crypto for different reasons.

“That is less exciting for crypto purists but much more attractive for banks, governments and asset managers. Institutional capital generally follows legal certainty,” Farina said.