Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is confident that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will greenlight spot XRP-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), even if his San Francisco-based blockchain payments firm has been locked in a long-drawn-out legal dispute with the City regulator.
XRP ETFs Coming Soon?
Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse believes the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds will open the door to other cryptocurrencies like XRP. Garlinghouse said that while the FCA apparently didn’t want to, it begrudgingly approved the launch of BTC and ETH ETFs by prominent City firms on UK stock exchanges.
Earlier this month, Bitwise filed paperwork with the FCA for an XRP ETF that would give investors direct exposure to XRP without having to directly hold or buy the asset. The filing came as a surprise because Ripple has been mired in a legal fight with the FCA since December 2020. Shortly after Bitwise’s move, Canary Capital, a new asset management firm founded by former Valkyrie Funds co-founder Steven McClurg, also filed for an application to launch a spot XRP ETF.
Garlinghouse confidently told Bloomberg on Wednesday that the introduction of an XRP ETF was “just inevitable,” adding that there’s “demand from institutions and retail to access this asset class.”
The Ripple chief has also forecasted that a spot XRP investment product would do “quite well” owing to a thriving community around the XRP ecosystem.
The Ripple boss believes exchange-traded funds are a key bullish catalyst for cryptocurrencies, including XRP, noting that these vehicles cause crypto prices to experience “upward pressure.”
Ripple’s Battle With FCA
It’s worth mentioning that the FCA might not immediately approve an XRP ETF, given the ongoing spat with Ripple. Back in 2020, the agency slapped the company with an eye-popping £1.3 billion lawsuit, alleging that it sold unregistered securities in the form of XRP.
Last year, Ripple notched a major court win against the FCA when a judge ruled that programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors were not securities. The judge, however, ruled that £728 million worth of contracts for institutional sales qualified as unregistered securities, but the news was widely hailed as a win.
Following the judgment, the FCA sought a hefty £2 billion fine from Ripple. Much to the regulator’s chagrin, a New York court then ordered the company to pay just a £125 million fine, which was again touted as a huge victory for Ripple and the crypto industry at large.
The FCA has recently lodged an appeal against the judge’s ruling. However, the regulator is not challenging the non-security status of the controversial XRP token. According to data tracked by CoinGecko, the price of XRP is still 84.5% down from its lifetime high of £3.40 set in January 2018. The seventh-largest crypto by market cap was trading hands for £0.5297 as of press time, reflecting a loss of 10.3% over the last month.
