Bitwise: XRP Enters Value-Capture Era

The post Bitwise: XRP Enters Value-Capture Era appeared com. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, has opined that XRP is now entering its value capture era. Hougan has stressed that one of the key sources of investment alpha is recognizing when tokens improve their ability to capture value for holders, rather than just serving as governance or utility tokens. He has cited UNI, the native token of Uniswap, as an example. Previously a governance token with little direct benefit to holders, UNI may now burn a portion of trading fees, thus boosting the intrinsic token value. When it comes to Ethereum (ETH), the Fusaka upgrade introduces minimum fees for Layer 2 data recording. This will potentially increase revenue capture by up to ten times. “You see a growing focus on value capture in XRP as well. The community is starting to consider ideas like staking, which would change the economics for token holders,” Hougan says. He’s arguing that XRP is entering a phase where holders could see more direct economic benefit, rather than relying solely on network growth or speculative demand. Value capture is no longer risky Tokens like XRP were created in a regulatory era where aggressive value capture was risky, so most defaulted to governance-only designs. Now that regulatory clarity is improving, networks can implement features like staking, fee capture, or token burns. This will benefit token holders. “Most of today’s tokens were created in a regulatory era where value capture was risky; as a result, they defaulted to vague governance-style design choices. Under the new regulatory climate, that’s being unwound,” he said. As reported by U. Today, XRP Ledger is currently exploring staking or other value-capture mechanisms for XRPL without compromising speed, low fees, or decentralized governance. The goal is to align network incentives with token holders, thus creating a long-term economic model for XRP.