On Thursday, January 30, Grayscale asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval to change its Grayscale XRP Trust into an XRP-spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The request showed that the company felt hopeful about receiving approval.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart shared the update, saying that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Grayscale had sent the request. He also shared that Grayscale’s XRP Trust held about $16 million.

Grayscale Joins XRP-Spot ETF Race Amid Speculation On SEC’s Next Move

Grayscale joined Bitwise, Canary Funds, WisdomTree, and 21Shares, which had already asked for permission to start XRP-spot ETFs.

Grayscale has played an important role in the crypto ETF market. In August 2023, it won a legal battle after the SEC refused to let it turn its Bitcoin Trust into a Bitcoin-spot ETF. That victory helped open the US Bitcoin ETF market, which has received $39,862 million in investments since January 11, 2024.

This latest request for an XRP-spot ETF showed that some experts believed the SEC might drop its legal fight with Ripple. On January 15, 2025, the SEC had continued its case by challenging the court’s decision about how XRP was sold.

If the SEC allows XRP-spot ETFs, demand for XRP could rise sharply, possibly pushing its price to a record high. After Bitcoin ETFs were approved and Donald Trump won the election, Bitcoin jumped from $46,716 on January 10, 2024, to $109,312.

Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett shared her thoughts on the XRP-spot ETF request. She suggested that more companies might send in similar requests the following week.

Even though many believe the SEC may stop its legal battle, the agency has not shared any updates on the Ripple case. After the SEC’s closed-door meeting on January 30, some started to think the case might be dropped, especially since US President Trump had chosen Mark Uyeda as the new temporary SEC Chair.

SEC Under Pressure To Change Approach To Crypto

Uyeda had earlier said that the SEC’s actions against crypto companies needed to stop. He shared that the SEC had unfairly punished crypto businesses that had not broken fraud or safety rules. He also shared that President Trump and voters had sent a clear message to change how the SEC handled crypto.

Many people have asked the SEC to stop legal actions against crypto firms. Variant Fund’s Chief Legal Officer, Jake Chervinsky, said that the SEC needed to fix its past actions against honest crypto businesses. He also pointed out that the SEC had enough members who supported crypto to vote for changes.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin also gained from ETF-related news. James Seyffart shared that the SEC had approved Bitwise’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF on the final deadline. Since January 11, 2024, Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF had received $2,350 million in investments. Experts believed that this multi-crypto ETF could increase Bitcoin demand even further.

Nate Geraci, President of ETF Store, shared that the $40 billion investment into Bitcoin ETFs was impressive, especially since many wealth management firms had not fully opened access to these funds yet.

Apart from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the US Bitcoin ETF market reported $266.6 million in new investments. These trends helped Bitcoin reach a high of $106,333 on January 30.

However, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde disagreed with those who believed other countries might follow the US in adding Bitcoin to their financial reserves. At a press meeting on January 30, she said that reserves needed to be safe and easy to use. She also shared that Bitcoin would not be part of the ECB’s reserves.