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Key Takeaways
- Cryptocurrency asset manager Bitwise on Wednesday filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
- Approval of the XRP ETF, based on the crypto token of Ripple Labs, may partially hinge on the outcome of a potential SEC appeal of a 2023 ruling that said XRP trades weren’t securities transactions.
- In its filing, Bitwise acknowledged the potential risk that the future classification of XRP as a security could pose to the proposed ETF.
Crypto index fund manager Bitwise on Wednesday filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would give investors direct exposure to Ripple Labs’s XRP (XRPUSD) crypto token.
In the filing, Bitwise explicitly stated that XRP isn’t a security—countering past SEC assertions—and emphasized that XRP operates on a decentralized ledger, which generally can enhance accountability, security, and accessibility. According to the filing, BNY Mellon will serve as the trust’s administrator and transfer agent, while Coinbase Custody will act as the custodian.
SEC’s Appeal Date in XRP Ruling Nears
The filing comes at a time when the SEC is still in a legal dispute with Ripple over the classification of XRP as an unregistered security. The SEC has until Monday, Oct. 7, to appeal a 2023 federal court ruling that secondary sales of XRP through crypto exchanges aren’t securities transactions.
According to Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn, it would be surprising if the SEC doesn’t appeal the decision. Such an appeal’s success would make the chances of approval for this ETF proposal effectively zero, he posted Tuesday on the social media platform X.
Bitwise acknowledged the continuing litigation in its filing, noting that if XRP is deemed a security by the courts, it could force the liquidation of the proposed trust under certain conditions. In addition to this new filing for an XRP ETF, Bitwise has already launched spot bitcoin and ether ETFs in the U.S.