VC Fund Advisor Said XRP Was Worth Nothing, but I Was Determined to Bring DeFi to XRP — Flare Founder

XRP ecosystem builder Hugo Philion recently revealed one of the harshest moments during Flare’s early development.

He said a venture capital fund advisor dismissed both XRP and the idea of DeFi on the network.

Philion disclosed that during a call with a VC fund, where crypto influencer Ran Neuner served as an advisor, he endured lengthy criticism about XRP’s future prospects.

According to Philion, the advisor argued for “15–20 minutes” that XRP “was worth nothing,” that building DeFi infrastructure for XRP was “a pointless pursuit,” and that Flare “would never work.”

However, Philion said the criticism had the opposite effect. It strengthened his determination to push forward with XRP-focused DeFi development.

Key Points

• A VC advisor said XRP was “worth nothing” and DeFi on it would fail, but Philion doubled down on building anyway.
• Neuner and Scott Melker mocked XRP; community reacted, saying critics still miss what the XRP ecosystem is building.
• Flare’s FXRP and Firelight expand XRP DeFi, enabling staking, lending, borrowing, and yield generation use cases.
• Over 100M XRP minted as FXRP, TVL tops 156M; an 8M FXRP institutional stake signals growing adoption momentum.

Comments Came After XRP Mockery

Philion’s remarks surfaced after Neuner and crypto trader Scott Melker jokingly mocked XRP on social media. Neuner sarcastically suggested that investors should hold XRP simply because it had become an “institutionalized coin.”

Melker also laughed off XRP, stating that he would rather own Ripple stock than XRP itself. At the same time, he clarified that he held no negative feelings toward XRP holders.

The exchange drew reactions from the XRP community. XRP commentator Mickle compared the discussion to “watching my parents talk about AI”. The comment suggested that critics still fail to understand the development in the XRP ecosystem.

Philion then joined the conversation, prompting Mickle to respond that people “not understanding what we are building” was actually bullish for the ecosystem.

Wow. I wish I were more surprised TBH.

Dumb people not understanding what we are building, is bulish IMO though.

— mickle (@xrpmickle) May 24, 2026

Flare Brings DeFi to XRP

Meanwhile, Flare has achieved some success in bringing DeFi to XRP. It launched FXRP, a non-custodial, overcollateralized version of XRP designed for smart contracts. This allows holders to access DeFi services such as staking, lending, borrowing, and yield generation.

Meanwhile, Firelight, built with Sentora, enables liquid staking through the stXRP token.

Flare’s XRPFi ecosystem has grown rapidly since FXRP launched on mainnet in September 2025. Initial minting caps filled within hours, while Firelight’s early staking allocations were also quickly exhausted.

By February 2026, about 100 million XRP had already been converted into FXRP, with most of it deployed across Flare-based DeFi applications.

Flare Built Foundation for XRP Finance

In April 2026, Flare developer relations engineer Kristaps Grinbergs said the network had already built the “foundation for XRP finance” after a major institutional staking event on Firelight. A single institution staked 8 million FXRP through the protocol, marking one of the platform’s largest inflows this year.

On-chain data showed Firelight recorded more than 9 million FXRP in inflows during the period, pushing total net inflows above 58 million FXRP.

Flare’s ecosystem also surpassed 156 million XRP in total value locked, with Firelight accounting for more than 32% of that figure.