Bitwise CIO Applauds Community For XRP Success

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes the XRP community is a crucial contributor to the ecosystem’s outlook. To this end, he noted that the success of the native coin is largely a function of its community’s strength. Hougan reached this conclusion after attending a Ripple event recently in Las Vegas.

Bitcoin Success is Not a Threat to XRP

The Bitwise CIO posted about his return from the XRP conference event on X, noting that approximately 1000 were in attendance. Reacting to the May 31 post, Vijar Kohli, an X user who doubles as a financier at Golden Door, asked him if there were any good takeaways from the event. 

Houghan mentioned that members of the Ripple community gradually understand that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ripple-associated XRP serve different markets. He made sure to establish that the success of Bitcoin is not a threat to XRP. “BTC thriving doesn’t disrupt what XRP aims to achieve,” Hougan clarified.

In the wake of the event, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse attempted to foster unity between the two blockchains. This led him to say that the Bitcoin community is not an enemy.

Ripple Says Bitcoin is Environmentally Friendly 

Ordinarily, such a statement would be expected to mend the broken fence between both communities. 

Eventually, it seems like it has achieved little to nothing. As part of the broader effort to appreciate Bitcoin’s progress, Chris Larsen, Ripple co-founder, says he now views Bitcoin as sufficiently environmentally friendly.

He took this stance after the share of mining powered by renewable energy topped 50%. It is worth noting that Larsen was backing a Greenpeace campaign targeting Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. 

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts think the statement of the Ripple executive is just a tactic to fix reputational damage.

Bitwise XRP ETF Awaits SEC Approval

In other related matters, Bitwise is still awaiting the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision on its spot XRP Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). It first filed an S-1 registration statement for this offering in October 2024.

The proposed ETF was intended to track the value of XRP without direct exposure to crypto risks. Bitwise named BNY Mellon its trust’s administrator and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, the custodian of the XRP ETF. There is still a prospect of approval from the SEC.