Bitwise Asset Management officially filed for a spot XRP exchange-traded fund, generating high excitement in the market.
Bitwise’s ETF application and market impact
Bitwise submitted its application for the XRP ETF on Tuesday, and the registered agent listed in the application is CSC Delaware Trust Company.
Bitwise confirmed that this application is genuine, a real one, which is an important note after a fake application for a BlackRock XRP ETF appeared on a government website last November.
This new application comes after Bitwise successfully launched its Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and now they are looking to make a similar move with XRP.
This filing arrives amid ongoing legal battles between the SEC and Ripple, with the SEC expected to appeal a recent court decision by October 7.
While this application is a big step forward, it doesn’t guarantee that Bitwise will file for an XRP ETF with the SEC soon.
Regulatory clarity, the boogeyman
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously stated that an XRP ETF is inevitable, especially after the approval of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in the U.S. If approved, an XRP ETF would offer institutional investors a regulated way to invest in cryptocurrency, potentially increasing XRP’s price.
Yet, for an XRP ETF to become a reality, its regulatory status must be clarified. If the SEC appeals the court ruling and continues its case claiming that XRP is a security, this could delay the progress.
Following the news about Bitwise’s application, the price of XRP hasn’t shown much improvement, it actually fell by 4%, dropping to the support level of $0.60.
On the upside, XRP faces strong resistance around $0.65, making it uncertain whether it will break out or pull back further.
XRP’s future seems bright
Some analysts are optimistic about XRP’s future, and there are predictions that XRP could see a quite unbelivable 888% increase, potentially reaching $31.
This prediction draws parallels to XRP’s 2017 rally when it surged from $0.003 to $3.31.
Another factor that could drive up XRP’s price is Ripple’s introduction of its native stablecoin, RLUSD.
Ripple reported having 1.7 million RLUSD stablecoins after entering a private beta testing phase on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet. The stablecoin wants to support growth on Ripple’s XRPL.
David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO mentioned that RLUSD will initially be available only to institutional investors and retail investors will have to acquire it through exchanges or other intermediaries.
