Ripple CEO Dispels Rumours About XRP-ETF

Ripple “welcomes” the emergence of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on XRP, but has yet to disclose specific plans, stated the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, in an interview with Bloomberg.

When asked about negotiations with asset manager BlackRock regarding the issuance of an ETF, the head of the firm responded:

“I will not comment on that. I know that BlackRock has publicly said some things. We think it makes sense for the community as a whole. Ripple is obviously a very important participant in the XRP ecosystem, but not the only one.”

In November 2023, a fake news story emerged about BlackRock filing an application to launch an XRP-ETF. The management company denied the report and later filed a police report.

Currently, there is no exchange-traded fund based on XRP in the United States. However, companies like CoinShares and 21Shares offer an asset-based ETP in European markets.

Speaking about an XRP-ETF, Garlinghouse expressed optimism, drawing parallels with the early days of the stock market when “diversification was key to risk management.”

He views the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs as a signal that courts are ready to challenge the anti-crypto policy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Garlinghouse emphasized that Ripple’s legal victories against the regulator were a turning point and highlighted the need for clearer rules for the industry.

“The SEC has consistently lost. It lost the Ripple case on all the issues that concerned them. […] I think [enforcement regulation] will stop either when the agency realizes its failures or when you force Congress to step in and write new legislation [for digital assets],” concluded the Ripple CEO.

Earlier, analysts from the company predicted “significant shifts” in the cryptocurrency market structure in favor of institutional capital.

Back in January, Garlinghouse stated that Ripple had postponed plans for an IPO in the U.S. due to the SEC’s “hostile” stance.