## The Shift in the Crypto Market: Why XRP and Cardano Face Pressure to Demonstrate Value Beyond Hype

As the cryptocurrency ecosystem matures, an increasingly relevant question arises: **what differentiates enduring projects from those that rely solely on passionate communities?** Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, has pinpointed the issue during a recent speech where he explains how the market is undergoing a fundamental shift toward assets that generate tangible value.

### Current Data Reflecting Market Tension

The numbers speak for themselves. XRP trades at $2.07 with a daily change of -1.19%, while Cardano (ADA) is at $0.40 with a +1.27% increase. In contrast, Bitcoin ($91.84K, +1.34%) and Ethereum ($3.15K, +2.04%) continue to attract institutional investment thanks to their established use cases. This gap reflects an uncomfortable reality for traditional projects: market attention is shifting toward platforms with demonstrable utility.

### From Narratives to Real Benefits: The New Market Filter

Novogratz proposes a provocative thesis: during recent market cycles, certain assets remained afloat thanks to community loyalty and media hype, not because of their operational impact. Projects like XRP and Cardano exemplify this phenomenon. However, conditions have changed drastically. The proliferation of options in the crypto space has fragmented investor and user attention, making it exponentially more difficult to maintain an engaged user base than years ago.

The question Novogratz poses is penetrating: **can Cardano or Ripple preserve community cohesion when more alternatives are emerging?** Charles Hoskinson has built a strong narrative around Cardano, but the network experiences limited practical user adoption. Similarly, although XRP has a loyal community, without real-world applications justifying its value, retention becomes vulnerable.

### The Selection Criterion: Utility vs. Speculation

Novogratz’s analysis highlights a methodological shift in how capital evaluates crypto assets. The winners in the next cycle will be those tokens that:

- Unlock new revenue streams for companies
- Increase user engagement and retention
- Build functional decentralized ecosystems with tangible services (staking, trading, diversification)
- Offer measurable benefits comparable to traditional products

Bitcoin and Ethereum remain relevant because they solve specific problems: decentralized digital value transfer and automatic contract execution, respectively. This contrast defines the new reality: speculative assets without intrinsic utility face increasing pressure.

### Implications for Investors and Developers

For institutional investors assessing crypto exposure, this distinction is critical. A traditional crypto ETF could include both assets with solid fundamentals and narrative-based projects. However, the differential volatility between XRP and BTC precisely reflects this fragmentation: institutional capital flows toward assets with proven utility.

Developers face a complementary dilemma: building passionate communities is easier than creating applications that people actually use. But by 2026, the second option is becoming increasingly the only viable one.

### The Critical Factor: Sustainability vs. Momentum

Novogratz sets a clear line: loyal communities without tangible use cases can sustain bullish moments, but lack the fundamental anchor for extended cycles. Real-world utility acts as a stabilizer, allowing projects to withstand market pressures that would liquidate competitors based solely on hype.

This is the true battle of 2026 in cryptocurrencies: **not between specific altcoins, but between the speculative asset model and the token model with verifiable economic functionality**.