KEY POINTS
- Among crypto filings for an ETF, $XRP is leading the race
- Bitwise, Canary Capital, and 21Shares were the first-movers in the race
- Big-time investment firms Grayscale and Franklin Templeton have since joined too
XRP, the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger, has been on a wild ride in recent months following the resignation of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler and the subsequent agreement with the financial regulator to close its case against Ripple, which oversees the Ledger's development.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump won the 2024 elections, there have been a host of companies seeking approval from the SEC to issue an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), and some of them are prominent names in the investment industry.
$XRP Leads Race in Crypto ETFs
There have been multiple filings for various crypto ETFs since Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris in November. However, the latest data shows that XRP is in the lead among other digital coins.
Nine companies have filed for an XRP ETF so far, while there have been at least five filings for a Solana (SOL) ETF, as per data from The Crypto Basic.
There are three filings for Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE), and there are two filings each for Avalanche (AVAX), Hedera (HBAR), and Polkadot (DOT).
Minus stablecoin giant Tether (USDT), XRP is the world's third most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap, only trailing ETH and BTC.
The Race Toward Issuing $XRP ETFs
Crypto ETFs have become a major discussion across the crypto space since Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were approved, and among the key points in the discussion is whether companies will be interested in filing to issue altcoin ETFs.
Asset management firm Bitwise answered the questions when it took the first step for an XRP ETF early in October last year.
At the time, Bitwise's filing was a top trend on social media platform X, given how it was the first known move a company has ever made toward issuing what could be the world's first XRP ETF.
Canary Capital followed suit about a week later, submitting its S-1 application with the SEC and sparking more conversations about the growing interest in the XRP token among investment firms.
A month later, 21Shares entered the race, and by December, WisdomTree was also in the running. ProShares filed for multiple XRP ETF products in mid-January, amplifying the growing interest in the offering.
CoinShares also filed for an XRP ETF in January, alongside Grayscale, which is one of the most prominent names in the crypto ETF space.
Volatility Shares, known for launching some of the most innovative ETFs, filed for three new products focused on the XRP coin earlier last month.
Finally, prominent asset manager Franklin Templeton joined the race, filing in mid-March with the SEC.
Will $XRP Rise to Meet the Momentum?
Despite the apparent interest in XRP ETF products, it appears the XRP coin isn't affected, as it has struggled to surge beyond $3 over the last several weeks.
In fact, the digital asset has been plunging in recent weeks amid the ongoing impact of Trump's tariffs on global markets.
On the other hand, it appears that companies that filed for an XRP ETF remain hopeful that the digital coin will rise in due time, as none have withdrawn their applications so far.
