Ripple’s Stuart Alderoty challenges the New York Times crypto stance, citing stablecoin payments, remittances and SEC court context; analysis of media framing.
The outlet characterized crypto as pointless, reviving a long-running critique that digital assets lack practical utility and are dominated by speculation. As reported by The New York Times, this framing positioned crypto as offering little value beyond hype.
The immediate reaction from industry leaders was swift. Executives and researchers from firms including Ripple, Coinbase, and Galaxy Digital challenged the premise, arguing that the narrative discounted real-world usage in payments, remittances, and emerging financial infrastructure.
Ripple’s legal team argued that the portrayal relies on outdated assumptions and overlooks current adoption patterns across consumers and businesses. “A lazy and outdated view that crypto is useless,” said Stuart Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, as reported by U.Today.
Coinbase’s policy leadership framed the moment as typical of early-stage technology cycles, noting that breakthrough tools often face premature dismissal before their utility scales. According to en.bloomingbit.io, Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad compared today’s skepticism toward crypto with past doubts about the internet and smartphones.
Galaxy Digital’s research head focused on media framing effects. As reported by CryptoPotato, Alex Thorn invoked the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect to argue that complex, technical subjects like crypto are vulnerable to mischaracterization that can harden into simplistic tropes.
At the time of this writing, Coinbase Global, Inc. shares closed near $183.94 on the Nasdaq, reflecting a double-digit daily gain in the cited session; this is contextual market color only and not a judgment on fundamentals, based on data from Nasdaq.
Sweeping statements are best tested against verifiable context: regulatory records, court outcomes, and demonstrable use cases. The considerations below offer a structured way to interrogate “crypto is useless” assertions.
Assess the specific posture of U.S. securities regulation, including recent Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions, litigated outcomes, and how courts have interpreted token distributions and exchange activity. Weigh how industry actors adjust products, disclosures, and compliance programs in response to these developments, and whether coverage fairly reflects those changes.
Examine measurable adoption: stablecoin settlement volumes, remittance corridors where on-chain transfers can reduce costs and delays, merchant payment integrations, and DeFi activity with transparent on-chain data. As argued by CoinDesk contributors Sheila Warren and Justin Slaughter, opinion pieces often understate non-speculative usage and note that only a small fraction of activity is illicit when compared with the broader ecosystem.
