From decrypt by Vismaya V

XRP became the highest gainer among the top ten cryptos on Wednesday following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's acknowledgment of multiple XRP ETF filings and Brazil’s approval of the world’s first spot XRP ETF. 

The filings, submitted by major asset managers WisdomTree and Canary Capital, have fueled optimism that XRP could soon be available to institutional investors through a regulated investment vehicle.

XRP is up 7.5% on the day, trading at $2.71 after climbing almost 10% in the last week, per CoinGecko data.

Submitted via Nasdaq and Cboe BZX exchanges, the filings will undergo a 21-day public comment period following its publication in the Federal Register, after which the SEC will have up to 240 days to decide on approval that could change XRP’s fate.

The SEC has already acknowledged ETF filings in the past few weeks from Grayscale, Bitwise, CoinShares, and 21Shares, marking a key development for the world’s third-largest crypto under acting chair Mark Uyeda.

Speaking to Decrypt, crypto payment solution B2BINPAY’s analytics team told how they feel XRP hasn’t demonstrated the same price surge that followed the recognition of the 21Shares ETF.

“This possibly points to the fact that the market remains cautious eyeing this legal uncertainty,” the team said. “The very existence of not yet honored SEC’s legal motion has been weighing on XRP’s market appreciation, therefore, we don’t think this token will break the level of $3 anytime soon.”

The timing of the SEC’s acknowledgment is significant, as it coincides with increasing speculation around the future of XRP in the wake of the agency's ongoing legal battle with Ripple. 

Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on Wednesday the SEC has been prioritizing enforcement cases with imminent deadlines, such as those involving Binance and Coinbase. 

Ripple has been caught in a legal dispute with the SEC since 2020, when the regulator filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against the company, accusing Ripple of selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP.

However, with Ripple’s next court deadline set for April 16, many are optimistic that the SEC may delay its decision on the Ripple case, which could provide a clearer path forward for XRP.

While the SEC is still in its acknowledgment phase, Brazil has officially beaten the U.S. to approve the world’s first spot XRP ETF, with Hashdex receiving approval from Brazil’s financial regulator to launch the Nasdaq XRP Index Fund on the B3 exchange.

This makes Brazil the first country to offer direct, regulated exposure to XRP through an ETF, and the community is becoming more bullish.

The B2BINPAY analytics team told Decrypt that Ripple’s strongest point is that its rival cryptos, such as Solana, Litecoin, and Dogecoin, are also waiting for approvals from the SEC.

“Once they receive the green light from the watchdog, which we think is exactly what will happen, the gate for XRP ETF will be opened,” they said.