Key Takeaways
The SEC has delayed decisions on the 21Shares XRP ETF and the Grayscale Dogecoin ETF to evaluate compliance with regulations.
Public comments are being solicited as part of the review process, with a review period extended beyond the original deadlines.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission today extended its review period for spot crypto ETF applications from 21Shares and Grayscale, initiating formal proceedings to evaluate the 21Shares XRP spot ETF, the Grayscale Dogecoin spot ETF, and the Grayscale XRP spot ETF.
The SEC suspended the original May 21-22 decision deadlines to further examine whether the proposals meet Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5) requirements for preventing fraud and protecting investors.
The 21Shares Core XRP Trust plans to track the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate and use Coinbase Custody for storage. Grayscale’s Dogecoin Trust would follow CoinDesk’s Dogecoin Price Index, while its XRP Trust would track CoinDesk’s XRP Price Index. All three ETFs would issue shares in 10,000-share blocks and hold only their respective digital assets.
Commenting on the XRP ETF delay, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said such delays are routine and expected.
“A bunch of XRP ETPs have dates in next few days,” he wrote. “If we’re gonna see early approvals from the SEC on any of these assets — I wouldn’t expect to see them until late June or early July at absolute earliest. More likely to be in early Q4.”
The SEC emphasized that the proceedings do not indicate its final position on the applications. The agency is seeking public comments within 21 days of Federal Register publication, with rebuttal submissions due within 35 days.