Ripple’s years-long battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has come to a close, rekindling hopes for an exchange-traded fund tied to the XRP token, whose ecosystem Ripple is a major player in.
On March 19, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the SEC had dropped its appeal in the $1.3 billion lawsuit over the sale of unregistered securities, effectively ending the case first brought in December 2020. The announcement sparked renewed speculation that the asset could be next in line for an ETF in the United States after Bitcoin and Ether.
“Seems obvious spot XRP ETF approval simply matter of time,” wrote Nate Geraci, president of investment advisory firm ETF Store, on X. He added that asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity would likely move quickly if the SEC signals it’s open to such a product.
Crypto betting site Polymarket reflects that sentiment. Traders there are pricing in an 86% chance that an XRP ETF will be approved before the end of the year, up from a 60% chance perceived in early January. However, they assign a 42% probability to approval before the end of July.
XRP Price Remains Steady
Despite growing speculation for the potential launch of an XRP ETF in the U.S. later this year, the cryptocurrency’s price has remained relatively stable. It’s up around 6% over the past week to slightly outperform BTC, up roughly 4%.
That muted response suggests many investors had already priced in a favorable legal outcome. XRP surged more than 280% over the last 12 months, rallying after Donald Trump secured a victory in the U.S. presidential elections.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.4 after seeing a $3.35 high earlier this year amid a broader cryptocurrency market rally. The token surged from around $0.5, at which it was trading ahead of Trump’s election victory.
