SEC Acknowledges Grayscale's Dogecoin And XRP ETFs Filings, Signaling a Shift in Crypto ETF Products

In a rather surprising move, the United States (US) Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially acknowledged Grayscale Investment's filings to convert its XRP and Dogecoin Trusts into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

The United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially acknowledged Grayscale Investment’s filings to convert its XRP and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) Trusts into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This decision by the SEC signals a potential shift in the regulatory landscape for crypto investment products, opening access to both Spot Dogecoin and XRP ETFs in the crypto market by 2025.

On Thursday, the US SEC published a regulatory notice seeking public comments regarding the proposed rule changes necessary to list Grayscale’s XRT Trust and Dogecoin Trust under the NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E. This formal acknowledgment triggers a review period with a mandated 240-day deadline for the agency to approve or reject the ETF applications. The 240-day clock officially begins once Grayscale’s ETF filings are presented in the US SEC’s Federal Register.

After being largely hesitant to accept applications for crypto ETFs, the regulator has now officially recognized Grayscale’s XRP and Dogecoin ETF filings. Currently, only Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have been formally accepted and released into the market. However, with the SEC’s recent acknowledgment of Grayscale’s ETF filings, there is a possibility that more crypto ETFs will enter the market.

James Seyffart, a Bloomberg Analyst, shared his expectations for the SEC accepting a Dogecoin and XRP ETF in an X social media post on February 10. Seyffart accurately predicted the SEC would acknowledge both Dogecoin and XRP ETF filings this week. He also highlighted that if the filings proceed as expected, a decision from the SEC could be reached by 17 October 2024, which is the official deadline date to approve or decline the filings.

Should the regulator give the green light and approve the XRP and Dogecoin ETF filings, both products could be launched before the end of 2025. Seyffart also shared a chart highlighting the odds of various crypto ETFs being launched, indicating the final barrier to approving a crypto ETF is its security status per the SEC’s standards.

For XRP, Seyffart revealed that the SEC does not currently see it as a security, despite its over-three-year-long lawsuit alleging that Ripple sold XRP as unregistered securities. Due to its no security status, the Bloomberg analyst suggests that the XRP ETF has a 65% chance of being launched.

In an interesting turn of events, DOGE has a higher chance of gaining an ETF in 2025. The Bloomberg analyst revealed that the US SEC might classify Dogecoin as a security, perhaps due to its meme coin status. Nevertheless, the analyst estimates a 75% chance for a Dogecoin ETF to debut in the market.

Although the SEC has acknowledged Grayscale’s DOGE and XRP ETF filings, this does not equate to official approval. However, it does indicate that the regulator is being more open-minded and not outrightly rejecting the applications.