The Securities and Exchange Commission has officially acknowledged Grayscale’s application for what would be the first-ever spot XRP exchange-traded fund, according to a Thursday filing.
The acknowledgment triggers a 240-day review period, giving the SEC until mid-October to make a final decision on the proposed ETF that would track XRP, currently the third-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $157.4 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The SEC’s willingness to review the XRP ETF proposal highlights a shift in the agency’s stance, as the regulator continues its legal battle with Ripple Labs and amid broader changes in leadership that could signal a more nuanced approach to crypto regulation.
According to the filing, the proposed fund would offer traditional investors regulated exposure to XRP through a familiar investment vehicle, with Coinbase Custody Trust Company serving as custodian. The trust structure mirrors Grayscale’s existing bitcoin ETF, which launched after the firm successfully converted its bitcoin trust into an ETF last year.
The filing acknowledgment follows the SEC’s recent acceptance of Grayscale’s applications for Solana and Litecoin ETFs, furthering the investment firm’s expansion of its crypto ETF offerings since debuting its spot bitcoin products, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) and Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), along with Ethereum-focused funds, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH).
NYSE initially filed the necessary paperwork for the XRP ETF in late January, followed by similar proposals from several major asset managers including Bitwise, Canary, WisdomTree, and 21Shares through the Cboe Exchange.
The proposal comes amid strong market activity for XRP, with the token trading at $2.72, up nearly 11% over the past 24 hours with a daily trading volume of $8.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The trust would use the CoinDesk XRP Price Index to track trading across major U.S. crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken and Crypto.com, according to the filing documents. Currently, XRP has a circulating supply of 57.81 billion tokens out of a maximum supply of 100 billion.
The wave of spot crypto ETF applications would reshape the investment landscape for digital assets, with the SEC now processing multiple filings for products tied to XRP, Solana, Litecoin, and Dogecoin.