According to CoinDesk, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established a timeline to decide on the approval of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of XRP. This development follows the SEC's acknowledgment of a 19b-4 filing submitted by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and asset manager Grayscale. This marks the first instance of the SEC responding to a filing concerning the crypto asset XRP, initiating a 240-day period for the Commission to reach a decision.
The SEC has previously acknowledged applications for other crypto-focused ETFs, including those for Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE). However, the acknowledgment of the XRP ETF filing is particularly noteworthy due to the SEC's ongoing legal battle with Ripple, the company behind XRP. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, accusing it of violating U.S. securities laws by selling XRP as an unregistered security. In August 2023, Ripple achieved a partial victory when a federal judge ruled that XRP is not a security when sold on secondary markets.
The SEC appealed the case on January 15, just days before U.S. President Donald Trump took office, arguing that Ripple's sale of XRP met the criteria of the Howey Test, a standard used to determine what constitutes a security. Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Store, commented on the SEC's decision to acknowledge the filing, suggesting it sends a significant message. Meanwhile, Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have predicted a 65% likelihood of the XRP ETF being approved by the end of 2025. They also forecasted higher approval chances for a Litecoin ETF at 90%, followed by Dogecoin at 75% and Solana at 65%. All pending ETF applications for these assets are expected to receive a decision by October.
