NEW YORK — The XRP Ledger’s ability to support both value transfer and real-world payments from a single platform could give it a structural advantage in the growing crypto ETF market, according to derivatives exchange Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten.
“What I think is unique about XRP and RLUSD is that you have a single ledger that runs a two-pronged strategy, one of storing and transferring wealth in XRP, and the other in RLUSD, which is payments,” Hoersten said at Ripple’s Swell conference in New York on Tuesday. “To me, having both on one ledger with one strategy is what makes the ecosystem unique.”
The comments came during a panel discussion alongside Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley, Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg, and Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas. The group discussed what a spot XRP ETF could look like and why they think it could outperform past crypto ETF launches.
McClurg explained how the SEC’s new rules, combined with existing futures activity, now allow ETF issuers to file what’s called an “expeditious amendment” for assets like XRP.
“For example, we filed this for Litecoin and HBAR, you know, several weeks ago, and both went live last week,” McClurg said. “And then we filed an XRP ETF with no change in deadline, basically 20 days before November 13th.”
This means that a spot XRP ETF could go live as soon as next week.
Bitwise, which recently launched a Solana staking ETF, is also in the race. That fund, BSOL, brought in $500 million in its first week – one of the strongest performances of any ETF in 2024. Horsley said he thinks XRP could be next.
“I think XRP, and we know this from our customer base, is one of the most convinced assets among investors, so I think it will do fabulously well, and we will market it to all those types of investors to make sure it has its best chance to make a dent,” he said.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, agrees. He compared the race to launch ETFs to a “Cannonball Run” and said that XRP had already proven its popularity in previous crypto fund launches.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if XRP ends up being the flagship ETF of the next cycle,” Balchunas said.
The panel cautioned, however, that an ETF alone does not guarantee rising prices. But as new tools like in-kind creation, physically settled futures, and tighter spreads come into play, XRP could be better positioned than most to benefit from a broader shift from crypto to regulated finance.
