The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed decisions on several proposed exchange-traded funds involving XRP, Solana, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. The agency announced on March 11 that it has extended the decision period to further assess the proposed rule changes. Among the affected ETFs are Grayscale’s XRP ETF and Cboe BZX Exchange’s spot Solana ETF.
The final decisions for these funds have been pushed to May. This news comes amid growing interest in cryptocurrency ETFs. As of March 12, several firms, including Bitwise, WisdomTree, 21Shares, ProShares, and Franklin Templeton, had already filed for XRP ETFs.
In total, reports list nine distinct XRP-related ETF applications with the SEC. However, there has been some confusion regarding the exact number of XRP ETF filings. On March 17, Hashdex filed an amendment to its Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, seeking to add several altcoins, including XRP, Litecoin, Solana, and Cardano.
While this amendment isn’t a direct XRP ETF filing, it does include XRP exposure in a broader fund. The buzz surrounding XRP ETFs has been fueled by social media discussions and news reports.
Sec delays decisions on cryptocurrency ETFs
Some have claimed that Hashdex’s amendment marks the 10th XRP ETF filing, but there’s no official word from the SEC confirming that many separate XRP ETFs actually exist. Franklin Templeton, an asset management company with global assets of over $1.5 trillion, has officially entered the XRP ETF competition. According to the preliminary prospectus submitted on March 11, Franklin XRP Trust will issue Franklin XRP ETF fund shares.
The fund will mainly hold XRP managed by the custodian on behalf of the fund and aims to track the overall performance of XRP prices. Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as the custodian of XRP assets. As the SEC continues to review these ETF proposals, the cryptocurrency market remains volatile.
The total market cap is around $1 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Ether, Ethereum’s native token, has struggled to regain a position above $2,000 and dropped to a multi-year low of $1,752 on March 11. On-chain data and technical analysis indicate the price could drop an additional 15% in the coming weeks, hitting potential bottoms around $1.6K.
The delay in ETF decisions and the overall market volatility have not dampened the enthusiasm for cryptocurrency investments. Investors and industry experts continue to closely monitor developments in the space, eagerly awaiting the SEC’s final rulings on these proposed ETFs.