According to Cointelegraph, Ripple has made a strategic investment in Bitwise’s XRP exchange-traded product (ETP) as the issuer rebrands its offering to strengthen its foothold in the European market. On November 7, Bitwise announced the rebranding of its European XRP ETP, formerly known as ETC Group Physical XRP, to Bitwise Physical XRP ETP. The trading symbol, GXRP, will remain unchanged.
The development follows Bitwise’s entry into the European market in August, which was marked by its acquisition of ETC Group, a cryptocurrency investment firm with $1 billion in assets under management. The company’s portfolio includes physical cryptocurrency trading products such as Bitcoin ETP (BTCE), Ethereum with staking (ET32), Solana (ESOL), MSCI Digital Assets Select 20 (DA20), and GXRP. A physical trading product is a financial product that tracks the performance of the underlying asset, which is also purchased and held by the issuer.
The Bitwise Physical XRP ETP aims to provide European investors with exposure to XRP through a physically backed product that holds the underlying asset. Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise, expressed his excitement about offering investors access to XRP and the XRP Ledger, which he described as two of the most popular and trusted blockchains in the industry. Horsley highlighted the institutional quality of the Bitwise Physical XRP ETP (GXRP) as a key benefit for investors.
In addition to rebranding its XRP ETP, Bitwise plans to revamp its entire European ETP portfolio as part of its strategy to expand operations across the continent. The company has forecast significant growth in 2024, with over $10 billion in total client assets, and has announced plans to launch more institutional-grade crypto ETPs. Bitwise has been actively expanding its crypto-based offerings, launching its first ETP for Aptos trading on November 12 and filing an S-1 registration for an exchange-traded fund linked to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) on November 26.
Ripple’s investment in GXRP is a notable aspect of this development. Although financial details of the investment were not disclosed, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted the growing global demand for crypto-backed investment products in 2024. Garlinghouse noted that as the US regulatory environment for crypto becomes more clear, this trend is expected to accelerate, boosting demand for exchange-traded products like the Bitwise Physical XRP ETP.