Crypto Founder Drops Bombshell on XRP’s Ripple Dependency, Challenges Holders to Act as Ambitious $10 Forecast Gains Steam

Flare co-founder Hugo Philion has pushed back against renewed XRP criticism, arguing that the cryptocurrency’s value and long-term narrative should not depend solely on Ripple’s decisions.

This development comes as technical analyst Dark Defender doubled down on his previous $10 XRP prediction, maintaining confidence in the bullish chart structure despite XRP’s recent price weakness.

Philion Challenges XRP Holders to Rethink Their Approach With Three Key Questions

In a recent post on X, Philion addressed the renewed FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) surrounding XRP, arguing that much of the criticism stems from speculation about Ripple’s next moves and what the company may or may not be doing. However, he believes the community has placed too much emphasis on Ripple, creating a misleading perception that XRP’s value and long-term prospects depend on a single corporate player. 

“XRP’s value and narrative should never have been perceived as being based solely on the actions of one player,” Philion stated.

The Flare co-founder stressed that XRP has always had greater potential beyond Ripple’s activities, which partly motivated Flare’s creation. In his view, expanding the range of applications available to XRP holders is essential to strengthening the token’s utility, market narrative, and long-term value proposition.

Philion challenged the XRP community to shift its attention toward three fundamental questions: what holders are doing to put their XRP to work, how they can demonstrate its value to people who have yet to invest, and what steps they are taking to transform the cryptocurrency from a speculative holding into usable capital.

He suggested that answering these questions requires more than simply waiting for Ripple to announce new partnerships, products, or adoption initiatives. Instead, XRP holders and developers must actively contribute to building financial applications and use cases that give the asset greater utility.

Philion specifically pointed to Flare as a way to achieve this goal, arguing that the network offers an opportunity to expand what holders can do with their XRP and help separate the asset’s value proposition from Ripple’s corporate decisions. 

The Flare co-founder’s remarks come amid growing frustration among XRP holders over the cryptocurrency’s weak price performance. XRP has shed approximately 51% of its value over the past year, trading at around $1.10 at the time of the report. The prolonged decline has also reignited questions about what could drive the token’s next recovery and whether its prospects are too closely tied to Ripple’s business activities.

The criticism has also extended to Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz, who recently faced questions about XRP’s disappointing performance. Schwartz pushed back against suggestions that he could influence the token’s market value, explaining that his ability to move XRP’s price was extremely limited.

Analyst Maintains Bullish $10 XRP Outlook Despite Rout

Separately, technical analyst Dark Defender remains confident in his double-digit XRP prediction in a recent X post, insisting that the token’s recent decline has not invalidated his broader technical setup.

“Nothing has changed in the structure,” the analyst opined, pointing to the $1.21 and $1.12 support levels he had identified in his October 25 analysis.

According to Dark Defender, XRP’s latest pullback remains within the price scenario he had already mapped out. Rather than abandoning his bullish outlook, he maintained that the cryptocurrency’s movement toward these support zones does not necessarily signal a breakdown of the structure underpinning his longer-term $10 target.

Dark Defender’s earlier Elliott Wave chart outlined a potential rally toward the $10.1101 region. However, reaching that level would require a dramatic recovery from current prices. At $1.10, XRP would need to surge about 809% to reach $10, while climbing to $10.1101 would require roughly an 819% advance.

Given roughly 63.52 billion XRP in circulation, a $10 valuation would put the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization at around $635.2 billion. Reaching the higher $10.1101 target would push its implied market value to around $642.2 billion.