- XRP price has soared by over 25%, signaling potential growth and sparking investor interest.
- The journey towards launching an XRP ETF is fraught with regulatory challenges and market anticipation.
In recent weeks, Bitcoin (BTC) has continued to record new highs one by one, but XRP, the crypto currency promoted by Ripple, seems to be still far behind. The value is still around 80% below the peak it ever reached in 2018.
However, the situation for XRP seems to be changing soon with the possibility of the arrival of spot-traded exchange funds (ETFs), reinforced by increased development efforts in the XRPs ecosystem. It was revealed by Martin Hiesboeck, Chief Research at Uphold Exchange.
Evolving Regulatory Landscape for XRP
Recently, XRP managed to break its negative trend on Monday when the price of this Ripple-promoted token jumped more than 25%, crossing various resistance barriers and recording a new peak this year above $0.74.
At the time of writing, the price of XRP had fallen 2.23% in the last 24 hours, fell to price of $0.6814. But, this represents an increase of 8.69% over the past 7 days.
The rise in the value of XRP not only attracted the attention of investors but also sparked a debate about the future of the cryptocurrency that is currently in the sixth-largest position, with regard to the possible launch of US-based spot ETFs.
Hiesboeck, the head of research at Uphold, has openly spoken about developments in the XRP ecosystem. Commenting on the token’s latest bullish price action, Hiesbueck associated the upward momentum with “an increase in development on XRPs since the lawsuit was settled”. He referred to the regulatory clarity obtained by Ripple and XRP in 2023.
We are finally seeing the fruits of increased development on $XRP since the lawsuit was settled! An XRP ETP is around the corner too. There is life in the old girl.
— Dr Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) March 12, 2024
Furthermore, Hiesboeck signaled the arrival of XRP-based ETFs, saying, “We have finally seen the results of increased development on XRPs since the lawsuit was settled. The XRP ETP is also nearby. There’s still hope on this old coin.” For a deeper dive into these developments, a detailed explanation is available in this Youtube video.
The Path to XRP ETF
Last month, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also commented on the possibility of XRP ETFs coming to market. Garlinghouse revealed that the blockchain payment startup would “certainly welcome” the investment product, as previously reported by ETHNews.
The executive also observed that there would inevitably be a lot of ETFs surrounding a variety of crypto assets, as investors want to diversify their risks.
However, approval for the XRP ETF seems to be facing a twisted road. Specifically, XRP ETFs would not be possible unless XRPs were granted non-securities status in the United States.
As you may remember, in July 2023, a court ruled that the institutional sale of XRP by Ripple violated federal securities laws, but the sale on the stock exchange and the programmatic sale did not violate, as formerly reported by ETHNews.
In addition, industry observers recently noted a decline in optimism for the Ethereum (ETH) spot ETFs, with Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg reducing the odds of launching the product in May to 35% due to the SEC’s silence against potential fund issuers.
Thus, the XRP ETF only appears to make sense if the largest altcoin based on market capitalization sets a precedent for its counterparts.