Ripple issues its token in a centralized fashion, unlike other coins which are mined and incentivized by people dedicating computing power to accumulate them.
Many in the community, including creators of other coins, have slammed Ripple's definition as a cryptocurrency.
"For the most part, I'm not frustrated or angry with Ripple, I'm frustrated with the community's general lack of knowledge these days (i.e., Ripple is a symptom, but not the problem itself)," Reddit user thieflar, a moderator of the Bitcoin subreddit, tells Inverse.
"The fact that Ripple is labeled as a "cryptocurrency" and included on sites like CoinMarketCap has been, for the most part, seen as misleading and inaccurate for many years now," thieflar adds.
"It seems like the multiple-year-long cryptocurrency bull-market eventually reached a point where newcomers have been buying indiscriminately, not understanding anything about what they are buying other than 'it's a crypto coin so you can make money with it,' and Ripple managed to get caught up in the madness," thieflar continues.