Purpose Investments, the company that pioneered the world’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, is expanding its digital asset portfolio with a proposed spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), pending regulatory approval.
The Toronto-based asset management firm, which oversees more than $23 billion in assets, is now entering the growing competition for spot XRP ETFs. Purpose Investments has submitted a preliminary prospectus to Canadian securities regulators for the proposed Purpose Ripple ETF. Having introduced the first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs—both launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange in early 2021—Purpose Investments is now aiming to break new ground with what could become the world’s first spot XRP ETF. While XRP exchange-traded products (ETPs) already exist in various markets, Purpose is looking to leverage its success in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to bring a similar offering to investors.
Purpose Investments founder and CEO Som Seif emphasized the increasing demand for XRP among institutional investors as a key reason for launching the fund. “As XRP sees increasing adoption and institutional interest, we believe an ETF can offer investors a transparent and familiar way to access it within a regulated framework,” Seif explained.
The Purpose Ripple ETF is designed to invest its assets in long-term holdings of XRP, the digital currency associated with Ripple, offering investors exposure to potential long-term capital appreciation without the complexities of directly holding the cryptocurrency.
The announcement comes amid a broader push for spot XRP ETFs. Recently, NYSE Arca filed a 19b-4 application to convert Grayscale’s XRP Trust into a spot ETF, with Coinbase Custody as the custodian and BNY Mellon Asset Servicing as the transfer agent. Other asset managers, including WisdomTree, Canary Capital, 21Shares, and Bitwise, have also submitted applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch similar products. JPMorgan estimates that an approved spot XRP ETF could attract up to $8 billion in net assets within its first year, a projection that Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called a “pretty reasonable guess.”
While U.S. firms were the first to apply, Canada’s regulatory environment has historically been more receptive to cryptocurrency ETFs. The Canadian securities regulator has generally approved such products more quickly than the SEC, giving Purpose Investments a potential advantage in bringing the first spot XRP ETF to market.
Meanwhile, asset managers are also exploring ETFs for other cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and even the so-called “Trump memecoin” (TRUMP). Industry observers suggest that firms are testing the regulatory landscape under a potentially more crypto-friendly SEC in the Donald Trump era.
With Purpose Investments leading the charge in Canada, the race for the world’s first spot XRP ETF is heating up, setting the stage for another major development in the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency investment.