- World’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has been disclosed to be working on an XRP ETF filing as an insider reveals two key dates to watch.
- A market expert has also detailed the reasons behind BlackRock’s long silence on XRP.
The race for the first-ever XRP Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) launch in the US is still on, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expected to make decisions on 15 different related filings.
As indicated in our previous news brief, several asset managers, including Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary Capital, etc, have made a move. However, BlackRock has remained quiet in all these. According to crypto analyst Altcoin Bale, things could change in the coming weeks or months as an insider reveals two dates to keep an eye on – May 1 and June 9.
Why BlackRock is Yet to File for XRP ETF
BlackRock currently exists as the largest asset manager in the world with $11.5 trillion in holdings. Its move for an XRP ETF could be a big deal, however, experts believe that it probably has a good reason to “wait in the wings”.
Recently, an XRP-related X account, “All Things XRP”, highlighted that BlackRock “may be too focused on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) success” to take a serious look at other altcoins. As of April 20, its iShares Bitcoin Trust had reached $30 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) while its ETH ETF had crossed $1 billion in two months after launch.
Even recently, BlackRock added a Bitcoin ETF to its $150 billion model portfolio, as previously mentioned in our news publication. According to All Things XRP, the asset manager may be hesitant “to add risk” when it is already dominating with the top two assets by market cap.
Adding to this, BlackRock was reported to be probably waiting for leverage to strike instead of chasing headlines. Above this, Regulatory concerns and XRP market shares could be a reason.
According to the post, institutions like BlackRock could be taking a cautious approach with XRP despite the lawsuit currently behind Ripple. In terms of market shares, Bitcoin and Ethereum are dominating the market with market shares of 63.25% and 7.37%, respectively. Comparatively, XRP has a market share of 4.48%.
Adding to some of the possible reasons, All Things XRP also disclosed that BlackRock does not see much client demand for XRP ETF. With this, BlackRock executives were reported to have stated that only BTC and ETH currently tick their boxes for demand, liquidity, and legal clarity. Specifically, BlackRock would make a move when there is a better chance of approval, according to All Things XRP.
On December 12, 2024, Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas confirmed some of these claims on X as he posted a statement by the head of BlackRock’s ETF Department, Jay Jacobs, explaining their position on BTC, ETH ETFs against other altcoins.
We’re really just at the tip of the iceberg with Bitcoin and especially ethereum. Just a tiny fraction of our clients own ($IBIT and $ETHA), so that’s what we’re focused on (vs launching new altcoin ETFs).
Meanwhile, analysts have disclosed that a possible launch of XRP ETF (even without BlackRock’s involvement) could trigger a price surge for XRP to $15, as earlier highlighted in our analysis.
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