In a recent episode of the Empire podcast, Jeff Dorman, CIO of Arca, broke down on how to evaluate the true value of crypto assets.
According to Dorman, there are three kinds of value: financial, utility, and social. Financial value comes from real revenues or cash flows. Utility value comes from how useful a token is, and Social value comes from community support. The best crypto projects should have all three, but having one or two can still be valuable.
Jeff explained that even if something only has financial or utility value, it still holds some worth. But if it only has social value—like popularity or community—it’s not enough unless it eventually leads to real financial value.
The expert used XRP as an example. Jeff said XRP is ‘insanely’ overvalued, with a market cap of around $131 billion, despite lacking strong financial or utility value. Its value today is mostly based on its long-standing presence and loyal community. But that social value could lead to real financial use in the future.
“When people ask if Ripple is worthless, I say, ‘It’s not worthless, I just can’t define its worth.’ It’s like a really expensive call option on what it could be in the future,” he said.
He compared XRP to GameStop, saying both are driven mostly by social hype. But that hype can eventually be turned into something real—like how GameStop used its popularity to raise money and buy Bitcoin.
Fake It Till You Make It?
However, he said that Ripple’s long history and loyal community have made it a symbol of crypto’s potential to change finance.
He describes Ripple’s strategy as “fake it till you make it,” where companies build social value first and later use that to create real opportunities, like startups that raise funds before making profits. Ripple recently made headlines after acquiring Hidden Road, gaining access to a new business and a U.S. broker-dealer license.
