Bitwise Creates an XRP ETF Trust: Will There Be Another Crypto ETF?

After successfully listing Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on US exchanges, Bitwise is now moving towards creating an XRP ETF and has already registered a trust entity in the state of Delaware on Tuesday.

An XRP ETF Trust

The newly registered firm appeared on the US state's Division of Corporations website, and Bitwise confirmed its authenticity on multiple media platforms.

“We can now confirm that this is both legitimate and from Bitwise,” a Bitwise spokesperson told crypto-focused publication Coindesk, confirming the filing was real.

The official confirmation was necessary, as earlier, similar illegitimate filings of potential XRP ETFs pumped the token’s price. Last November, a filing for a BlackRock XRP ETF appeared on the government’s corporations website, which turned out to have no links with BlackRock, as the asset management giant later confirmed.

However, the creation of an XRP ETF trust does not guarantee the listing of that cryptocurrency's investment vehicle. Rather, the filing is the first step towards creating an XRP ETF, a token closely associated with the blockchain company Ripple.

An XRP ETF Is “Inevitable”

In May, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, also pointed out that the launch of an XRP ETF is “inevitable” following the listing of similar products for Bitcoin and Ether, the top two cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin has a market cap of over $1.2 trillion, XRP only has about $34 billion.

XRP also faced actions by the SEC, which dragged the blockchain company to the courts under allegations of offering unregistered securities. Although the court squashed the allegations of any violations in XRPs offerings to retail investors, it slapped Ripple with $125 million penalty for securities regulations breaches in its institutional sale transactions.

Amid the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), nine Bitcoin ETFs were listed on US exchanges in January this year. Months later, the US regulator also approved Ether ETFs. Bitwise, along with mainstream financial giants like BlackRock and Fidelity, were among the players offering those crypto investment vehicles.

While Bitcoin and Ether ETFs were already listed on multiple markets before their US listing, XRP, despite its popularity, remains one of the cryptocurrencies without any ETFs in any markets.

Meanwhile, a few companies are also seeking to launch Solana ETFs and have already initiated steps to receive approval from the SEC.