On Friday, crypto asset manager 21Shares filed an S-1 registration form for a spot XRP ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish the 21Shares Core XRP Trust.

This filing follows similar applications from other firms, including Canary Capital and Bitwise in the past months, as interest in crypto ETFs surges, particularly in the wake of successful approvals for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs earlier this year.

The filing indicates a strong demand for alternative crypto investments, particularly as Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have gained traction among investors. However, the path to approval for the XRP ETF is fraught with uncertainty. 

The SEC has been scrutinizing the crypto space more closely, particularly concerning its ongoing legal battle with Ripple Labs, which has significant implications for the classification of XRP. 

The SEC has argued that XRP should be considered a security under the Howey Test, a legal framework used to determine whether certain transactions qualify as investment contracts.

This regulatory ambiguity poses considerable challenges for the approval of the three XRP ETF applications by the asset managers currently under review. 

While there is optimism among some industry leaders, including Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who had recently stated that the launch of an XRP ETF in the US is “inevitable,” it remains to be seen how the SEC will respond to these new applications.

Adding another layer of complexity is the upcoming US presidential election. Both candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, have signaled intentions to reform the current regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies, which could lead to greater clarity and potentially more favorable conditions for crypto assets moving forward. 

Such changes, if in fact completed, could pave the way not only for the approval of the new XRP ETF applications but also for other recently filed forms, including those for Solana and Litecoin.

At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.52, up more than 2% following the announcement of the new filing.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

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