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There seems to be a big controversy around XRP and XRPL. Again. Here’s my perspective after more than a decade in this space, as an XRP holder and someone who spent years building and contributing to this ecosystem. Am I bullish on XRP & XRPL long term? Yes. Am I bullish on its current direction and powers that be that make the important decisions? No. Is XRPL at a serious disadvantage compared with most other ecosystems? Yes. Those positions are not contradictory. Believing in the technology does not mean following blindly and defending everyone shaping its future. I’ve read the posts from @IOV_OWL, @MasonVersluis and @MinusWells and comments from community members and the concerns are valid and deserve real answers and not dismissal. Nobody needs another promise, speculative partnership thread or statement about XRP being the “north star.” The community deserves results. Execution. Products people actually use. And right now, XRPL is falling short. The attached chart shows a constant decline in important metrics such as TVL, liquidity, and volumes, with daily DEX volume currently being at only ~$5m and TVL at ~$35m. For an ecosystem with this much history, attention and access to resources, that should concern everyone. Where is the depth of liquidity? Where is the broad selection of useful applications? Where are the compelling assets ordinary users can actually access? Announcements are not adoption. Partnerships are not liquidity. Integrations and tokenizing something is not the same as creating demand for it. We also need to stop treating three different things as interchangeable: Ripple succeeding as a company. XRPL growing as a network. XRP capturing value from that growth. One does not automatically prove the others. If utility is the thesis and XRP is a commodity, explain the mechanism. What creates sustained demand? How does activity translate into value for holders? Those are reasonable questions. Asking them is not FUD. I’ve been raising these issues for over a year, writing about my experience as a builder and the obstacles within this ecosystem. The community deserves more. The builders deserve more than encouragement without the support and distribution needed to succeed. And we need to be honest about Ripple’s role. Yes, Ripple doesn't unilaterally control the network. But Ripple's resources, relationships and position give it an outsized ability to move this ecosystem forward. They are the only ones who can make big things happen. In my view, expecting smaller independent teams to compensate for a lack of urgency at that level is not realistic. Especially with non-existent activity and revenue to compensate for it. That responsibility deserves scrutiny. Challenge the decisions, the economics and the results. In the end, it's execution and results that matter, the rest is irrelevant. I’m writing this because I want XRPL to succeed, not because I’ve stopped caring. I’m less active in the community because I’m tired of the constant drama and the gap between what gets promised and what gets delivered. I'm fully focused on building useful products and getting them into people’s hands. XRPL can still have a strong future. But marginal improvements, marketing and another round of bullish statements will not be enough. It needs a higher standard of execution. And a community willing to demand it. Believing in XRP should not mean lowering your standards for it. The community should stand up.