Spot XRP ETFs Stuck In Limbo: SEC Delays All 5 Proposals

The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, August 18, 2025, pushed back decisions on all five pending spot XRP exchange-traded fund proposals, designating longer review periods and resetting final action dates into October. In separate “Notice of Designation of a Longer Period” orders, the Commission cited the need for additional time to evaluate the filings following the institution of proceedings under Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act. In the standard phrasing repeated across the orders, the SEC wrote that it “finds it appropriate to designate a longer period” so it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule changes and the issues raised by commenters.

Spot XRP ETF Decisions Pushed Back By SEC

The five proposals span three listing venues and now carry staggered October deadlines. NYSE Arca’s filing to list the Grayscale XRP Trust faces the earliest outside date: the SEC set October 18, 2025, as the Commission’s decision deadline after noting that the 180-day clock from the February 20 Federal Register notice would have expired on August 19. The order, issued by the Division of Trading and Markets under delegated authority and signed by Secretary Vanessa A. Countryman, extends that window the additional 60 days permitted by statute.

Cboe BZX’s application to list the 21Shares Core XRP Trust follows a day later on the calendar: the Commission designated October 19, 2025, as the date by which it must either approve or disapprove, explaining that the original 180-day period from the February 21 notice concluded on August 20. The same order reiterates Section 19(b)(2)’s framework—180 days after publication, extendable once by up to 60 days with reasons published—which the SEC invoked here.

Bitwise’s spot XRP ETF proposal, also at Cboe BZX, now carries an October 22, 2025 action date. The Commission’s order notes the filing’s February 24 publication, the initiation of proceedings in May, and the decision to “extend the time period for approving or disapproving” by the full 60 days.Two proposals share the latest deadline. Nasdaq’s application to list the CoinShares XRP ETF and Cboe BZX’s filing for the Canary XRP Trust were each extended to October 23, 2025. In both orders, the SEC recites the same procedural posture—publication in late February, the May institution of proceedings, and the additional 60-day designation at the end of the 240-day statutory maximum.

Across the five orders, the legal mechanics are identical. After a proposed exchange rule change is noticed in the Federal Register, the Commission must act within 45 days, which may be extended up to 90 days or, if proceedings are instituted, within 180 days of publication; that 180-day period can be extended once by up to 60 days with reasons stated. Each delay order here explicitly cites Section 19(b)(2), recounts the publication date that started the clock, and then sets the new outer deadline. As one order puts it, the Commission is “extending the time period for approving or disapproving the proposed rule change for an additional 60 days.”

While the substance of the Commission’s outstanding questions is not adjudicated in these delay notices, the filings themselves and prior SEC proceedings indicate the familiar set of issues for spot crypto commodity-trust listings: the sufficiency of surveillance-sharing arrangements with “markets of significant size,” the reliability and representativeness of reference pricing, and the treatment of custody and creation/redemption mechanics. Those questions were formally teed up when the SEC instituted proceedings on each file in May, a prerequisite to Monday’s clock extensions.

At press time, XRP traded at $3.02.