As Charles Hoskinson (찰스 호스킨슨), the founder of Cardano (ADA), raised questions about XRP's long-term value, the XRP community pushed back by citing price data showing a 20,450 percent rise over the past 10 years.

On April 20 local time, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported the debate began with comments Hoskinson made in a recent interview criticising Ripple's XRP holding structure and tokenomics.

Hoskinson pointed to Ripple holding a large pre-mined supply and selling some of it to fund operations and acquisitions. He argued that under such a structure, even if the company makes profits, token holders would struggle to benefit from any rise in value. He also noted XRP holders have no legal ownership of Ripple's assets and lack mechanisms such as staking or profit-sharing. Prices can surge in the short term on news or overheated sentiment, he said, but that does not link to long-term demand or stable value gains.

The XRP community countered with its price history and comparisons with other assets. Researcher SMQKE rechecked earlier data that showed XRP had risen more than 10,000 percent over the past 10 years and presented updated figures putting the gain above 20,000 percent. The data showed XRP rose from $0.00681 in late April 2016 to $1.40 now, up 20,450 percent over 10 years.

SMQKE also provided comparisons with major stock indices. Since April 2021, the Nasdaq Composite has risen 82 percent and the S&P 500 has gained 78 percent, while XRP climbed 145 percent from $0.57 to $1.40 over the same period. He said the three-year return was once 300 percent and still stands at about 225 percent after a recent correction.

Some in the community also compared XRP and Cardano in the current market cycle. An anonymous XRP supporter said Cardano rose about sixfold from a $0.21 low to a $1.32 high but has since slipped back to around $0.24. By contrast, XRP rose about 11 times from $0.32 to $3.65 and is still around $1.43, above past levels. The user said XRP rose more in the cycle and held onto more of its gains.

A broader example of long-term returns was also cited. Vandell Aljarrah (반델 알자라), co-founder of Black Swan Capitalist, mentioned that XRP rose from about $0.0028 in 2014 to a 2025 high of $3.64, delivering a return of about 129,900 percent. He also cited a 33-fold rise over five years from $0.11 in 2020 to $3.64 in 2025. While arguing this performance is higher than typical returns at top hedge funds, he left open the possibility of further gains.

The core of the dispute centres less on XRP's price performance itself than on how to interpret it. Hoskinson took issue with what he described as a Ripple-centred value-capture structure, while XRP supporters pointed to the fact that the market price has risen sharply over the long term. As a result, views on XRP are likely to continue to diverge depending on the yardstick used, including token structure, holder benefits and actual price performance.

Correct. XRP increased by more than 10,000% in the last 10 years.✅ It outperformed the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ over the past five years.✅ In the last three years, it delivered profits exceeding 300%.✅ These facts prove that holding long-term or buying at the right time… https://t.co/j5taZVth9I pic.twitter.com/eScdv6ghRG