Deep-pocketed investors are scooping up XRP and increasing their exposure to the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency.
Whales accumulated almost $560 million in XRP over the past week, data from Santiment shows. Their investments come in lockstep with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lapsed deadlines for three XRP exchange-traded fund filings during the period.
Those missed deadlines occurred amid an ongoing US government shutdown, now in its 27th day.
But rather than dampen enthusiasm, XRP investors and analysts are betting that once Washington reopens, the floodgates for ETF approvals will open as well.
“I expect ETFs for most tokens to ultimately be approved by the SEC, so long as the new generic listing standards are complied with,” Andrew Jacobson, general counsel at Halliday, the crypto payments platform, and former global head of legal at 21Shares, the crypto ETF firm, told DL News last week.
“Fall is often the hottest season for ETFs, and once the government is back up and running, things will move very fast.”
Signs of vitality
Despite SEC approvals being stuck in limbo, XRP’s market is flashing signs of vitality, with ETF products attracting significant investments.
Rex-Osprey XRP ETF, launched in September, crossed $100 million in assets under management last week.
Teucrium’s leveraged XRP ETF, another offering open to US investors, has amassed more than $366 million in net assets since its launch in April, eclipsing the firm’s other funds.
Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium, credited XRP proponents for the fund’s rapid growth and said the company was seeing enormous demand for its XRP ETF during a recent interview on CNBC.
Apart from the surge in ETF inflows, XRP has also become a magnet for digital asset treasuries.
At least 10 companies, including VivoPower and Webus, are currently building XRP treasuries, based on data collected by DL News.
Evernorth, a Ripple-backed digital asset treasury company, holds the most XRP on its balance sheet, having acquired $947 million worth of the cryptocurrency.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him at [email protected].
