Solana Co-Founder: Ethereum Unlikely to Replicate XRP's Success

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko believes Ethereum (ETH) is unlikely to replicate the success of XRP. In a recent post on X, Yakovenko emphasized, "Just because something irrational happens in the world, it doesn’t imply that it will happen to you, or you can make it happen." His comments were sparked by Omid Malekan, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, who criticized the crypto market’s sentiment-driven valuations. Malekan expressed frustration that Ethereum's weak performance is often blamed on declining fundamentals, while sentiment-heavy cryptocurrencies like XRP thrive.

Malekan highlighted that XRP's fully diluted valuation (FDV) now surpasses Ethereum's, despite Ripple owning nearly half of XRP’s supply. He attributed this phenomenon to the crypto market's immaturity, where price action is heavily influenced by narratives and emotions rather than solid fundamentals. Yakovenko responded by pointing out that without understanding why assets like XRP or Bitcoin (BTC) hold value, it’s impossible to engineer or compete with them. He further argued that XRP’s strategy is unlikely to work for Ethereum, given the latter's fundamentally different ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Jon Charbonneau, co-founder of crypto investment firm DBA, defended Ethereum’s fundamentals, stressing that unique market outliers like XRP should not be seen as representative of broader crypto dynamics. The debate underscores the growing tension between sentiment-driven investing and fundamental analysis in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.