BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has launched a scathing critique of two major cryptocurrency projects—Cardano (ADA) and Ripple’s XRP—claiming they “do absolutely nothing” despite maintaining loyal communities.
In a recent commentary, Hayes argued that the sustained support for ADA and XRP is rooted not in genuine innovation or utility, but in the wealth generated for early adopters during price surges. “You could be like Cardano or Ripple and do absolutely nothing,” Hayes said. “对你的人民撒谎，说你要对此做点什么。然而，人们得到这个东西真的非常便宜。你让他们和你一起致富。”
Hayes 强调，早期的财务成功在项目与其社区之间建立了几乎牢不可破的联系，无论项目是否兑现其承诺，这种联系都会持续存在。 “这就是为什么价格如此重要，”他指出。 “It’s more important than the fundamentals of what you actually build. If you give the majority of the community away to participate in what you are building and they get wealthy alongside the founders, then they will be with you forever regardless of what you do.”
He predicted that Cardano would likely remain within the top 50 cryptocurrencies even 15 years from now—not because of technological advancement, but simply because early investors profited handsomely.
When asked about his current stance on altcoins, Hayes pointed to the rise of tokenized equities as a key deterrent.由于台积电等资产现在可以在加密原生平台上 24/7 进行交易，他相信许多投资者不再认为有必要进行投机性山寨币投资。
Looking ahead, Hayes anticipates a major market shift following the collapse of the AI investment bubble—a crash he expects to surpass previous financial crises due to what he describes as unsustainable capital allocation in AI infrastructure financing.