Bitwise XRP ETF Goes Live Today; Ripple, TradFi, and Payments in Focus

• The Bitwise XRP ETF offers direct exposure to XRP with a 0.34% management fee, waived for the first month on the first $500 million in AUM.
• Four additional XRP ETFs from major issuers, including Grayscale and Franklin Templeton, are expected to debut by month-end.

Crypto asset manager Bitwise has officially announced that its spot XRP ETF will go live for trading today. The company calls it a historic milestone, considering an ETF launch for the third-largest crypto asset.

This XRP fund from Bitwise will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), starting November 20. Following this announcement, the XRP price has bounced back from the intraday lows of $2.04.

Bitwise XRP ETF to Go Live on NYSE

The XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Bitwise will become auto-effective from November 20, following the submission of Form 8-A and CERT filings. As per the disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fund will list on the NYSE under the ticker “XRP”.

The ETF is designed to offer investors direct exposure to XRP. Moreover, the Bitwise XRP ETF has set a management fee of 0.34% and will waive the fee for the first month on the initial $500 million in assets under management (AUM).

In its message on the X platform, asset manager Bitwise wrote: “It’s a big step forward for XRP, the world’s third-largest crypto asset,* which aims to reshape the market for global payments”.

Additionally, to mark the development, Bitwise is hosting a live X Space today featuring Ripple CTO David “JoelKatz” Schwartz and Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, with journalist Eleanor Terrett moderating the discussion.

By the end of November, four more XRP ETFs are scheduled to go live. This includes ETFs from asset managers like Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, CoinShares, and 21Shares, as reported by CNF.

Amid the current development, several XRP community members have shared concerns over the “XRP” ticker used by Bitwise. X user Krippenreiter, who describes himself as a technician and DeFi educator, questioned how Bitwise was able to secure “XRP” as its official ticker, noting that it could create confusion between the digital asset and the ETF. He added that the community would now need to provide explainers to distinguish the two.

Ripple focuses on Payments In DeFi

With the excitement building around the spot XRP ETF, blockchain firm Ripple continues to focus on key developments within its ecosystem. As mentioned in our previous story, XRP is playing a key role in the institutional adoption of tokenized assets and money market funds.

Ripple’s head of engineering, Ayo Akinyele, also noted that some internal discussions have been taking place about introducing native staking on the XRP ledger.

The recent development caused the XRP price to bounce back from the support of $2.04 earlier today. In addition to the spot XRP ETF, other catalysts like XRP exchange outflows and a surge in ecosystem activity can trigger further price action.