The XRP exchange-traded fund boom is accelerating.
“Today is the day! We’re launching the Bitwise XRP ETF,” said Bitwise on X. “It’s a big step forward for XRP, the world’s third-largest crypto asset, which aims to reshape the market for global payments.”
The highly-anticipated launch by the $15 billion digital asset manager arrives on the back of a week that saw Canary Capital’s spot XRP ETF pull in $293 million. That same week, Bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $2 billion in selling pressure, DefiLlama data shows.
Bitwise’s new ETF arrives as a flood of XRP ETFs is shown on DTCC’s listing website, which includes Wall Street heavyweights like Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, ProShares, and CoinShares.
Grayscale announced on Wednesday that it will throw its hat into the XRP ring.
Muted price action
Despite strong launch momentum and ETF inflows, XRP’s price is down more than 40% from its July all-time high of $3.65, trading at $2.12 at time of reporting.
But analysts say that has nothing to do with the Ripple-linked crypto’s fundamentals.
“XRP isn’t selling off because of the ETF,” Max Zurlino of ShoreLabs told DL News. “We’re in a cycle where macro conditions and institutional flows drive price, not retail hype around headlines.”
“ETF approvals are a strong confidence signal,” Zurlino added. “They validate XRP’s legitimacy with institutions and set up a healthier foundation for long-term adoption, even if the immediate market reaction is muted.”
Lawrence Samantha, CEO of investment platform NOBI, agreed.
“It will be wise for investors to treat the launch as an important infrastructure milestone, instead of an automatic price catalyst,” Samantha told DL News.
He advised investors to keep an eye on flow dynamics over the next two weeks “and whether institutional allocators convert initial exposure into lasting positions.”
Ripple moves
Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, has made big moves in recent weeks.
On November 5, the firm tripled its valuation to $40 billion after a $500 million strategic funding round including Citadel Securities, Fortress Investment Group, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.
That same day, Ripple announced a partnership with Mastercard and Gemini to enable stablecoin payments for credit card transactions, a major corporate win that positions XRP deeper into financial rails.
Alexis Sirkia, chairman of Ripple-backed Yellow Network, linked Ripple’s broader ecosystem push, including treasury initiatives and upcoming stablecoin integrations, to institutional interest in XRP.
“For years, institutional players have lacked a compliant, known way to gain exposure. ETFs solve that,” Sirkia told DL News.
