Billionaire pro-Bitcoin investor Mike Novogratz has expressed his newfound appreciation for XRP and Ripple.
In a recent podcast, Novogratz revealed that he initially doubted XRP’s longevity in the crypto scene. Per his admission, the mistrust was due to Ripple’s significant ownership stake in XRP. However, he has now commended the XRP community for their dedication to the XRP project.
“I was skeptical that XRP would have lasting power because payment company Ripple owns 60% of XRP. And I was like, ‘that just doesn’t seem a proposition that’s going to work.’ And I’ve been dead wrong,” admitted Novogratz during the podcast.
He went on to give credit to Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, and the entire Ripple team. Additionally, Novogratz acknowledged Ripple’s transformation into a formidable institution in the payment landscape.
Novogratz: XRP Army is real
Furthermore, the pro-Bitcoin investor directly acknowledged the “XRP Army,” highlighting the passionate community actively supporting and promoting the XRP ecosystem.
Besides, he drew parallels between the XRP community’s dedication and Bitcoin’s, stating that both represent places for people to store value. In his words:
“The XRP Army is real; they care about their ecosystem and their coin. Yes, it’s got a use case, but broadly, the use case is the same as Bitcoin. It’s another place for people to want to store value.”
XRP Army Reacts
Mike Novogratz’s recent acknowledgment of XRP has stirred significant attention from the XRP community. In a recent tweet, prominent XRP influencer Crypto Eri highlighted Novogratz’s comment about XRP.
"Hats off to @bgarlinghouse and his team. @Ripple is now, you know, an institution, you know the XRP army is real."
– Mike Novogratz (with @RaoulGMI)@RealVision
December 9, 2023https://t.co/kI7PDsxYUL pic.twitter.com/eH9Ed14W61— ?Crypto Eri ?Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) December 10, 2023
A commenter to Crypto Eri’s tweet sarcastically inquired whether Novogratz has now joined the ranks of XRP investors or if there is still ‘confusion’ on his end about XRP’s purpose for existence.
Meanwhile, in the podcast, Novogratz pondered the broader question of how many crypto ecosystems can coexist, considering the current total market cap of the crypto industry running into trillions of dollars.
He contextualized the crypto industry’s size relative to global capital markets. In particular, he pointed out that despite the immense energy, human capital, podcasts, conferences, and research papers dedicated to the crypto space, it remains tiny in comparison.
Novogratz humorously illustrated this point by envisioning a tug-of-war between all Apple employees and those in the crypto industry.