The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged NYSE Arca’s 19b-4 application to list and trade Grayscale’s XRP ETF shares.
FOX Business Journalist Eleanor Terrett disclosed that the SEC acknowledged the filing yesterday, marking the first step of the approval process.
This suggests that the SEC is willing to consider it for approval rather than outrightly rejecting it. Terrett recounted how exchanges seeking to list Solana’s spot ETFs withdrew their 19b-4 applications in December after the Gary Gensler-led SEC signaled it would not engage with them.
The SEC acknowledging the NYSE 19b-4 XRP ETF application indicates a more open-minded approach toward the product.
Next Step
Following the acknowledgment, the SEC will review the application to ascertain whether to approve or deny Grayscale’s XRP ETF filing.
According to Terrett, this process could take up to 240 days from when the regulator posts the filing in the Federal Register. She emphasized that the SEC would make the filing accessible to the public within the next few days.
For context, other prospective issuers, including Bitwise and Canary, have also applied to launch XRP ETFs in the U.S. Also, exchanges like Cboe and Nasdaq have submitted 19b-4 applications to the SEC to list the XRP ETFs.
Since the regulator has already acknowledged the Grayscale XRP ETF filing, Terrett expects the commission to also recognize similar applications from other prospective issuers. It bears mentioning that the SEC has around 15 days to acknowledge 19b-4 applications for an ETF.
Ripple CEO Reacts
The acknowledgment elicited a reaction from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who emphasized that he predicted that an XRP ETF is inevitable and bound to happen.
According to him, his prediction is now playing out despite many initially being skeptical about his forecast. Notably, the skepticism stems from the regulatory uncertainty surrounding XRP amid the lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple.
I recall pointing out – more than once – that this was inevitable. (despite some vocal assertions to the contrary!)
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) February 13, 2025
With the SEC appealing the case, speculations suggest that it will not acknowledge nor approve any ETF relating to XRP. However, the current leadership, which has been pro-crypto since its nomination, ignored these concerns and acknowledged Grayscale’s XRP ETF application.
A Huge Statement in SEC v. Ripple Case
Nate Geraci, the President of ETF Store, noted that this move marks a huge statement in the SEC v. Ripple case.
SEC has *acknowledged* NYSE’s 19b-4 filing to list & trade Grayscale XRP ETF…
Obviously a potentially huge statement re: SEC’s case vs Ripple. pic.twitter.com/Oc2YPL0HoT
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) February 13, 2025
While the SEC has not determined whether to dismiss the Ripple case, its acknowledgment of the XRP ETF application indicates that the lawsuit no longer carries the same significance it did a few years ago.
