According to a Feb. 14 regulatory filing, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged Cboe BZX’s request to list asset manager 21Shares’ XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Not to be confused with an actual XRP ETF approval, the acknowledgment is a sign of progress for US exchanges seeking to list ETFs containing spot XRP.
The filing reads, “The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares under BZX Rule 14.11(e), which governs the listing and trading of Commodity-Based Trust Shares on the Exchange.5 21Shares US, LLC is the sponsor of the Trust (the “Sponsor”). The Shares will be registered with the Commission by means of the Trust’s registration statement on Form S-1 (the “Registration Statement”).”
The SEC changes tune on crypto
SEC has been one of crypto’s greatest enemies – if you could call it that. The current market progress, especially towards XRP, highlights how the regulatory body is changing its stance on crypto as US President Donald Trump starts his second term.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to make America the global crypto hub. There is progress to this end.
Listing as a commodity trust would put XRP in the same category as spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. 21Shares submitted its application to launch the Core XRP Trust ETF in November, mere days ahead of the crypto-enthusiastic Trump winning the US elections on November 5.
The SEC has given its reason for BTC and ETH approvals in this response filing. They say, “The Commission recently issued orders approving proposals to list bitcoin- and ether-based commodity trust shares and bitcoin-based, ether-based, and a combination of bitcoin- and ether-based trust issued receipts (these proposed funds are structurally nearly identical to the Trust, but proposed to hold bitcoin and/or ether, respectively, instead of XRP).”
According to them, “In both the Spot Bitcoin ETP Approval Order and Spot ETH ETP Approval Order, the Commission found that sufficient “other means” of preventing fraud and manipulation had been demonstrated that justified dispensing with a surveillance-sharing agreement of significant size.”
Less than two weeks ago, Cboe, sought permission to list four spot XRP ETFs, including 21Shares Core XRP Trust.
NEW: @EricBalchunas and I took a look at the filings for spot crypto ETFs. We’re putting out relatively high odds of approval across the board. Mainly focused on Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin for now.
Here’s the table with the odds and some other details: pic.twitter.com/xaXaNXLb0M
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 10, 2025
In the lead-up to the US elections and subsequently, before his inauguration, finance issuers moved to file for the listing of over a dozen crypto ETFs. This surge in activity reflected the industry’s expectation of a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration.
Among the offerings are ETFs that feature memecoins, including Dogecoin Official Trump (TRUMP) and Bonk (BONK).
Moreover, issuers have submitted applications to list ETFs targeting alternative cryptocurrencies, commonly referred to as “altcoins,” including Solana and Litecoin.
Issuers are currently in a holding formation, preparing for the green light over a series of proposed crypto index ETFs aimed at covering an extensive range of digital tokens.
On February 14, the inaugural spot crypto index fund, Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, started trading on Nasdaq.
