Billionaire investor Novogratz credits XRP army’s role in token’s longevity as SEC drops key crypto cases

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz believes that XRP’s continued success in the digital currency market comes down to its strong and dedicated community.

Despite having been cautious a few months back, Novogratz now admits that the “XRP Army” is crucial, even to the token’s existence, and vital to the token’s overall success.

Novogratz highlights XRP’s resilience and the power of community in crypto valuations

Galaxy Brains podcast, hosted by Alex Thorn, featured a recent episode discussing Ethereum and its underwhelming performance versus Bitcoin since the merge. Thorn said that Ethereum had fallen 75% against Bitcoin since the merge and 50% since the Ethereum ETFs announcement in mid-2024. 

In response to a question about the possible reversal of the ETH-to-BTC ratio, Novogratz said it did not matter because Bitcoin has a simple and powerful narrative—that it is digital gold—and its valuation comes from collective belief rather than just technological advancements.

In contrast, he said, the proposition of Ethereum as a global decentralized trust layer is more complicated because it is facing increased competition and oversupply of altcoins on the market. 

One of the reasons why I believe the prices of all these alts are going down is, there [are] too many of them. There is an infinite amount of token supply coming up […] and the timeframe for those narratives to build community is not enough.

~ Mike Novogratz

Featuring older crypto players like XRP and Cardano (ADA), Novogratz added that the previous token generation was launched in a less crowded altcoin sector, which resulted in strong community-building behind these tokens.

Novogratz admitted that he had previously underestimated the XRP Army. He noted that XRP has stayed relevant due to the passionate community of users who have been its supporters and advocates over the years. He compared the XRP Army to the Bitcoin community, noting that both are important in maintaining the value of their respective assets.

In February 2025, Novogratz made similar comments, saying that engaging the community is important to determining the fair market values of digital assets. He also said that he was surprised by the increase in the price of XRP in November 2024 after Donald Trump’s election.

Novogratz admitted that he did not foresee XRP among the best-performing tokens in late 2024; however, the level of support and engagement was the key to the coin’s performance.

Ripple appeal speculation grows as SEC drops cases against Coinbase and OpenSea

Just a few hours ago, the SEC’s war on crypto took another turn in favor of the US digital asset industry. The SEC agreed to dismiss its case against OpenSea and Coinbase.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that after years of litigation and at great cost to the taxpayer, the company has reached an agreement with SEC staff to have them dismiss their lawsuit against Coinbase. 

He pointed out that when the commission signs the decision, which is expected next week, it will mean a full dismissal of the case with no penalties paid and no alterations to Coinbase’s activities. Once the prolonged legal battle began, according to Armstrong, it caused damage to the country.

OpenSea’s co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer views the SEC’s decision to close the investigation as a win for the NFT and Web3 community. Finzer believes the agency’s initial stance on NFTs misinterpreted existing laws and would hinder innovation in the space.

Friday’s news fueled speculation about the SEC’s pending appeal against the programmatic sales of XRP ruling in the Ripple case.

Former SEC Office of Internet Enforcement Chief John Reed Stark reacted, noting that as predicted, like the rest of the SEC’s crypto-enforcement program, the commission’s Coinbase case is dead. He added that the Ripple appeal is obviously next on the chopping block.

In other developments, crypto markets have turned red after top digital assets exchange Bybit was hit by a $1.4 billion hack, plus renewed inflation concerns spooked investors.

CoinGecko data shows that big digital coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are all down, among other high-cap coins.

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is trading for $96,300, a more than 2% drop over the past day. Ethereum’s price has dropped further—by 3%—and stands at $2,669.

Meanwhile, XRP, the third-biggest digital asset, has taken a 6% plunge and is now trading for $2.56. 

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