Flare CEO Hugo Philion has criticized recent fear, uncertainty and doubt around XRP and urged holders to assess the cryptocurrency independently of Ripple’s actions. He said XRP’s value and narrative should not depend on a single actor, asking holders to consider how they use their holdings, encourage others to hold XRP and help turn it from a mainly speculative asset into usable capital. Philion said Flare was created partly to support that objective and invited XRP holders to use its decentralized finance ecosystem. His comments came as XRP’s price had declined by around 50% over the past year to $1.16 at press time. Philion also rejected the claim that FLR is unnecessary for using FXRP, explaining that Flare Smart Accounts conceal the need to manage FLR while the token pays transaction fees on the underlying networks. He said the ecosystem needs broader fee-generating uses for FLR over time.