The world’s largest digital asset manager Grayscale is now planning to launch a Grayscale XRP Trust. This development comes just when the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit is approaching its settlement, likely by the year-end.
Institutional players are slowly gaining interest in XRP as the regulatory overhangs on the asset reduce. Following this development the XRP Price made quick gains moving closer to $0.60 today.
Grayscale XRP Trust Fund Goes Live Today
As per the latest Fox Business report, the Grayscale XRP Trust Fund will go live today giving accredited investors direct exposure to Ripple’s native crypto. Similar to the other Grayscale trusts for Bitcoin (GBTC) and Ethereum (ETHE), this XRP trust will boost institutional participation in the asset class. Interestingly, the Trust funds come with a lighter regulatory touch in comparison to the exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
As Grayscale demonstrated with its GBTC and ETHE products, it can later proceed to convert the XRP Trust to an XRP ETF. Besides, the Grayscale XRP Trust also features a four-phase product life cycle, which keeps the possibility of an ETF open, in the future.
The XRP Army has been eagerly awaiting the launch of the product from popular asset managers such as Grayscale and BlackRock. Following the launch of spot Bitcoin ETF and spot Ether ETF this year, the demand for XRP ETF is also growing.
However, uncertainty looms over a potential spot XRP ETF due to the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC. The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, claiming XRP sales should have been registered as securities. This has also impacted the XRP price which failed to participate in the 2023 bull run. Recently, the judge announced a $125 million settlement in the Ripple vs SEC lawsuit, with the securities regulator currently contemplating to appeal the judge’s verdict.
However, Grayscale remains confident XRP has potential long-term value for investors. Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s head of product and research, told Fox Business:
“We believe Grayscale XRP Trust provides investors with exposure to a blockchain solution that is potentially positioned to play a crucial role in optimizing legacy financial systems by streamlining cross-border payments”.
XRP Price Shoots 8%
Following this news, the XRP price shot up over 8% shooting all the way to $0.5707 with its market cap surging past $32 billion. Besides, the daily trading volumes for XRP have also shot up by 71% shooting all the way to $1.44 billion.
Earlier this year, the XRP price has been facing rejection at $0.65. Thus, if the bulls manage to break through this barrier, we could be seeing the XRP price rally all the way to $1 by the end of this year. The institutional reaction to the launch of the Grayscale XRP Trust is something to watch for.
