NEW YORK — 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 Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten.
“What I think is unique about XRP and RLUSD is that you have a single ledger that drives a two-pronged strategy, one with wealth storage and transfer in XRP, and the other is in RLUSD, which is payments,” Hoersten said at Ripple’s Swell conference in New York on Tuesday. “Having it both on a single ledger with a single strategy is, to me, 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 believe it could outperform previous crypto ETF launches.
McClurg explained how new SEC rules, combined with existing futures activity, now allow ETF issuers to file what’s called a “no-delay amendment” for assets like XRP.
“So for example, we filed it for Litecoin and HBAR, you know, several weeks ago, both of which went live last week,” McClurg said. “And then we filed an XRP ETF without delay, essentially 20 days before November 13th.”
This means that a spot XRP ETF could go live as early 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 believes XRP could be next.
“I think XRP, and we know from our customer base, is one of the highest conviction assets among investors, so I think it’s going to do fantastically well and we’re going to bring it to market across all those investor types to make sure it has the best opportunity to make a dent,” he said.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, echoed that view. He compared the ETF launch race to a “Cannonball Run,” saying that XRP has already proven its popularity in previous crypto fund launches.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if XRP ends up being the breakout ETF in the next cycle,” Balchunas said.
Still, the panel cautioned that an ETF alone does not guarantee a price increase. But as new tools like in-kind creation, physically settled futures and tighter spreads come into play, XRP may be better positioned than most to benefit from a broader shift from crypto to regulated finance.
