Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented on prospects for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 20.
When asked whether Ripple would support an XRP ETF, Garlinghouse said:
“We would certainly welcome it.”
However, he did not describe any definite plans toward that end. When asked whether Ripple is currently in talks with asset managers such as BlackRock to issue an ETF, he responded:
“I’m not going to comment on that. I know BlackRock has said some things publicly. You know, we think it makes sense for the XRP community overall … Ripple obviously is a very important stakeholder in the XRP ecosystem, but we’re not the only player.”
In November 2023, a leaked filing suggested that BlackRock was pursuing an XRP ETF. However, the asset manager quickly confirmed that the filing was fake.
No XRP ETF exists in the US at present. However, firms including Coinshares and 21Shares offer XRP exchange-traded products (ETP) in European markets.
Garlinghouse expects more crypto ETFs
Garlinghouse added that other crypto products are likely to become available. He said:
“I think it only makes sense there will be other ETFs too. It’s a little like, you know, the earliest days of the stock market. You don’t really want exposure to one stock or one company. You want to typically think about diversifying risk.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Garlinghouse said that he expects “multiple ETFs around different tokens.” He also suggested that ETF baskets could diversify risk further. However, he added that it’s “hard to predict” when such funds will come into existence.
Garlinghouse also commented on the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and said it was a “sad reality” that the SEC approved those applications only after a court action. Grayscale sued the SEC over its previous dismissed application and won a victory in 2023, which partially led the agency to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.
Garlinghouse endorsed crypto ETFs broadly. He suggested that these funds make markets safer and more robust and praised the investment community for embracing them.
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