Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s leading asset management firms, has announced plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track the spot price of Ripple’s cross-border payment token, XRP. This significant development comes as part of a preliminary prospectus filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 11.
The recent filing by Franklin Templeton adds to a series of applications for spot altcoin ETFs from various asset managers, many of whom are optimistic about a more lenient response from the SEC during the current administration.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 11, 2025
17 XRP ETF Filings Submitted
Franklin Templeton’s proposed XRP ETF will be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, with Coinbase serving as the custodian for the fund’s assets. Earlier in February, the firm had also filed for another ETF aimed at tracking the spot price of Solana (SOL).
Further adding to the competitive landscape, on March 7, Volatility Shares submitted three separate XRP ETF applications: one for a standard spot fund, another for a 2x leveraged XRP fund, and a third for a -1x XRP ETF. In total, there are now 17 XRP ETF filings awaiting the SEC’s verdict, including submissions from well-known issuers such as Bitwise, Grayscale, and Fidelity.
Despite recent volatility, XRP has shown signs of recovery, gaining 4% in the past 24 hours to reach $2.15, although it is still down 13% over the previous week.
In related developments, Bitwise made headlines by launching an ETF that focuses on stocks of companies with substantial Bitcoin holdings. Their Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF (OWNB) aims to mirror an equity index of firms possessing a minimum of 1,000 Bitcoin within their corporate treasuries.
As the ETF landscape evolves, the largest holdings in the Bitwise index at launch included companies such as Strategy (21%), MARA Holdings (12%), and CleanSpark (over 6%). Meanwhile, Cboe BZX is also seeking the SEC’s approval to enable staking in Fidelity’s ETH ETF, as indicated in their recent rule change filing.
SEC’s Ongoing Review of Altcoin ETFs
The week has been particularly eventful for crypto ETFs, with the SEC recently announcing an extension in its review period for various ETF applications, including NYSE Arca’s proposal to list the Grayscale XRP Trust, now pushed to May 21.
Delays have also impacted additional altcoin ETFs, such as those from VanEck and multiple Canary submissions for Solana and Litecoin. With May now set as the new deadline, issuers brace for the SEC’s decisions on approvals, rejections, or further delays.
This article initially appeared on CryptoPotato.
