Bitwise Officially Files XRP Spot ETF Application with SEC

Bitwise said BNY will act as administrator of the trust, while Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will act as custodian for the XRP spot ETF.

Asset management firm Bitwise has officially filed an S-1 application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an ETF that will provide investors with access to the XRP token.
In the S-1 filing, Bitwise said BNY will act as administrator of the trust, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will act as custodian for the XRP spot ETF.

“The investment objective of the trust is to obtain exposure to the fair value of the XRP held by the trust, net of operating expenses and other liabilities of the trust,” the company said in the filing.

Bitwise also asserted in its filing that XRP is not a security, contradicting what the SEC has said in the past.

“XRP is a decentralized digital asset, and ownership of it is reflected on a decentralized ledger. Additionally, XRP is not a security and is therefore not subject to U.S. federal securities laws.”

Bitwise’s filing comes after it registered a Delaware investment fund entity, with CSC Delaware Trust Company listed as its registered agent.

Notably, Bitwise’s move comes shortly after Ripple settled its lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), agreeing to pay a $125 million fine to clear XRP of securities charges.
The SEC has never approved an XRP spot ETF before, and if it does, it could face a number of challenges. The SEC has been embroiled in a legal battle with Ripple after the agency accused the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which it considered an unregistered security.

“If XRP is determined by a court or other regulatory agency to be a security, the trust may be deemed an unregistered ‘investment company’ under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which could require the trust to be liquidated pursuant to the terms of the Fund Agreement,” the filing reads.

This is not the first time someone has filed an XRP ETF with Delaware regulators. A similar filing in November 2023 was found to be a fraudulent attempt to boost the price of XRP.

In addition to XRP, another coin that many Wall Street giants have expressed interest in creating an ETF is Solana (SOL), but both are considered by financial experts to be unlikely to see an ETF in 2025 due to the lack of a futures product and the SEC’s hostile stance towards crypto under Chairman Gary Gensler.

XRP price also did not react much to the above information, because the general market situation was affected by the news of Iran launching missiles at Israel.