Ripple (XRP) appears to be laying the groundwork for a future XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
A recent job posting for Ripple’s Senior Manager of Business Development lists the key responsibilities as “driving cryptocurrency-related ETF initiatives with the insider trading team and relevant partners.” This has led some in the cryptocurrency community to wonder whether blockchain payment companies are adapting their strategies to the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.
These developments have surfaced as Ripple navigates its way through a high-profile legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which many believe will eventually lead to clearer regulations for cryptocurrency ETFs other than Bitcoin spot ETFs, as well as a number of other crypto ETFs. We speculate it could lead to a much-anticipated endorsement.
The cryptocurrency analysis community and industry reporters were quick to analyze the implications of this role. On January 27, cryptocurrency insight forum Good Morning Crypto chose the
Fox Business’s Eleanor Terrett later commented on Good Morning Crypto’s post, noting that the hiring of such an expert could signal a preliminary move toward establishing an XRP ETF.
However, Terrett pointed to the need for a Ripple futures ETF as a precursor to the approval of an XRP spot ETF.
She noted the precedent set by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) approval of Bitcoin futures, which played a critical role in the SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF.
Crypto journalist Colin Wu echoed Terrett’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of job postings in anticipation of XRP ETF applications.
Bloomberg’s James Seyffart previously highlighted the need for XRP futures to be listed on a major derivatives exchange like CME before the SEC approves an XRP ETF. The rationale is that the presence of XRP on the CME will provide an underlying asset that the ETF can track, which is an important requirement for ETF approval.
XRP’s performance over a broader period highlights the challenges it faces amid the ongoing regulatory debate. According to data from CoinGecko, coins have lost more than 16% of their value in the past 30 days. Additionally, the price has fallen by 7.3% over the past two weeks and by 3.2% over the past seven days.
However, over the past 24 hours, the price of XRP has risen slightly by 1%, a change in 24-hour trading volume of $637.9 million.