Asset manager 21Shares has applied for approval of a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On Nov. 1, 21Shares submitted a Form S-1 for its Core XRP Trust shares, proposing to list and trade them on the Cboe BZX Exchange. According to the filing, the trust will not provide investors with direct exposure to XRP but instead offers an “opportunity to indirectly access the market.”
If approved, Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as the custodian for the trust’s XRP holdings. Other asset managers, such as Bitwise, have previously submitted XRP ETF applications ahead of 21Shares.
The SEC has approved spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in 2024 but has yet to respond to spot XRP applications, likely due to its ongoing lawsuit with Ripple Labs. A recent civil suit judgment, which the SEC is appealing and Ripple has cross-appealed, included a federal court ruling that XRP was not a security regarding programmatic sales on exchanges.
Since spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved in January, asset managers have shown growing interest in ETFs tied to other crypto assets. Besides XRP, firms like VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital have filed to list spot Solana ETFs, while Canary has also proposed a spot Litecoin ETF as of October.
The SEC can delay decisions on ETF applications or open them to public comments, potentially stretching the timeline across several months. With the 2024 U.S. election approaching, some political analysts speculate that if Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump is elected, either could replace SEC Chair Gary Gensler, possibly impacting future regulatory decisions.
