Bitwise Registers XRP ETF Trust Filing In Delaware

By: Eva Baxter

Asset manager Bitwise has filed for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) with Delaware's Division of Corporations on September 30. The registration is for a Delaware statutory trust, which is a legally recognized trust set up for business. This move comes shortly after Grayscale introduced an XRP trust earlier in the month. The XRP-related movements follow the resolution of a four-year-long legal dispute between XRP's issuer, Ripple Labs, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple was fined $125 million as part of the SEC's partial win, but District Judge Analisa Torres declared that XRP offerings to retail are not considered as selling unregistered securities.

Despite the positive outcome, XRP's price has been following the broader market trends and currently sits at $0.6117, down by 2.6% over the past 24 hours.

Difficult Task Ahead

Approving a new crypto-related ETF that is not tied to Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) may prove to be challenging. Nate Geraci, CEO of The ETF Store, indicated that getting the SEC's approval for an XRP ETF would require political support. Similarly, Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, remarked that the chances of a Solana ETF being approved in the US are very slim. These comments came after asset managers VanEck and 21Shares filed for Solana ETFs in late July, shortly after the first spot Ethereum ETFs started trading in the US.

Adding to the complexity, despite SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterating that Bitcoin is a commodity, he avoided specifying which tokens could be considered securities during a September 24 Congress hearing. The future of Solana ETFs and potential XRP ETFs remains uncertain under the current SEC leadership.