XRP Surges as SEC Acknowledges Grayscale’s XRP ETF Application

XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, recorded a surge on Friday following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) acknowledgment of Grayscale's application to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

XRP's price surged to a high of $2.76 on Friday, the highest since Feb 3, marking a 14% increase in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko. This rally pushed XRP’s market capitalization to $160 billion. Since then, the price has slightly retraced to $2.72, maintaining an 8% gain over the past week.

Driving the surge is the SEC's formal acknowledgment of Grayscale's application to list and trade shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E. While this acknowledgment does not guarantee approval, it is a significant step toward greater acceptance of cryptocurrency-based ETFs.

Experts are optimistic

Davis Richardson, Managing Partner at Paradox Public Relations, said that it's intriguing to see legacy projects like XRP gaining interest in a more favorable regulatory landscape.

He noted that XRP’s core value lies in cross-border payment settlement, but with stablecoins like USDC and Tether enabling near-instant transactions via smart contracts, its role has become less critical.

“It's likely that if the SEC opens up the floodgates of ETF approval past ETH that XRP gets its time in the light, though selling traditional investors on Ethereum has been a challenge in itself,” Richardson said. He also pointed to Ripple’s ties to Trump-affiliated figures, including Donald Trump Jr., who recently followed the project on X, and Ken Kurson, a former Ripple board member and longtime advisor to Jared Kushner, as potential positive indicators.

Azeem Khan, co-founder and CEO of Morph, told The Defiant that an XRP ETF would also make it easier for investors to get access to the asset without navigating the complexities of crypto-native purchases—even when using centralized exchanges. This increased accessibility, he said, could drive further price appreciation.

“In terms of likelihood of approval, Brad Garlinghouse has spent enough money in [Washington] D.C. that I think it'll all work out just fine,” Khan noted.

Ripple vs. SEC

In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, alleging that they raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering. The case has been ongoing for years, but some experts see some hope in the SEC’s recent decision to pause its lawsuit against Binance for 60 days.

James “MetaLawMan” Murphy, a financial services attorney at Ludlow Street Advisors, believes this delay could signal how the SEC plans to handle other major crypto cases, including Ripple’s.

In a post on X, Murphy speculated that the pause might reflect Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda’s desire to hold off on crypto-related actions until Paul Atkins is confirmed as the new SEC Chairman.

At the same time, the SEC also acknowledged a filing for a Dogecoin ETF. With the acknowledgment of Grayscale’s application, a 240-day review period has officially begun.

Approval Chances

Last week, Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas predicted a 65% chance of an XRP ETF being approved by the end of 2025. They assigned the highest probability to a Litecoin (LTC) ETF at 90%, followed by Dogecoin (DOGE) at 75% and Solana (SOL) at 65%.

Ian Balina, CEO of Token Metrics, told The Defiant he sees approval odds to be over 50 percent. “Given Ripple's strong connections to the administration, its long-standing presence in the market, and substantial institutional support, it seems highly probable that this ETF will receive approval,” he added.