SEC acknowledges Bitwise Spot XRP ETF filing

According to new reports, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed the receipt of an application for a Bitwise spot XRP Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). According to earlier reports, Bitwise initially filed an application to launch the product back in early October.

The acknowledgment follows last week’s XRP ETF filings wins submitted by Grayscale and 21Shares. This was interpreted as a major step, given that the SEC has been engaged in a relentless legal fight with Ripple over the past few years.  

XRP market reaction

Note that these acknowledgments do not necessarily mean that an XRP ETF will certainly be approved by the SEC. However, analysts and market traders believe that this could boost XRP’s price to new highs.

However, at the moment, the coin is yet to respond to the market sentiments. As of this writing, the coin is down 3.8%, currently trading at $2.52. This embodies the present market sentiment that has Bitcoin trading below $95K.

The odds of an XRP ETF being approved by July 31, 2025, have now dropped 8% to 45% on the popular crypto-focused betting website Polymarket.  

Not everyone is happy about the longer-term chances that the SEC will finally approve such a product. A report from today suggests that approving a spot XRP would cause “chaos.”

Jason Calacanis, an American investor who is known as one of the most famous angel investors for his early bets on Uber, Robinhood, and other companies,  called the XRP token “a centralized controlled security.”

He states, “XRP is a centrally controlled security — is that even a question for anyone here? According to every crypto OG I talk to, it’s the opposite of Bitcoin.”

He then argues that “If the SEC allows it to trade like Bitcoin, then securities law will be worthless. There will be chaos in the markets as a million startups, funds, and grifters start dumping 50% of their coins on retail while slowly selling the 50% they own and control.”

Calacanis says that XRP should only be available to sophisticated investors, who should be aware of how “dangerous” such projects are. And to the Americans, he says, “That kind of chaos is NOT a good idea for America because the world believes we have stable and controlled markets — and they’re willing to park and invest their money with us.” 

Yesterday Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse met with Trump for dinner.

Odds $XRP gets an ETF this year are steady at 70%. pic.twitter.com/vjbkSICn8s

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) January 9, 2025

Now, the odds of a Ripple ETF being approved have spiked to 80,% according to Polymarket users.

Centralization concerns

The XRP Ledger has long attracted strong criticism from critics due to centralization concerns. This comes contrary to the plan Satoshi Nakamoto laid out when he brought Bitcoin to life.

Those worries stand true and tested. According to reports, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the company owns roughly $100B worth of XRP tokens.

However, people who support XRP say that the network is autonomous-decentralized and not controlled by a single group. Ripple has also said that the token can be compared to gold and oil.

Transactions on the XRPL are executed by a select group of “trusted” validators, as outlined in unique node lists (UNLs). The current count of validators on the registry stands at 187.

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