XRP Surges as First U.S. Spot ETF Debuts on Nasdaq

Ripple’s payment network’s native token, XRP, surged on Thursday following the debut of Canary Capital’s spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is trading under the ticker XRPC on the Nasdaq.

XRP jumped roughly 5% to $2.50 after the ETF’s launch, before retracing slightly to $2.42, still up 3%, according to The Defiant’s price page.

The move builds on week-long momentum, as the token had already rallied nearly 10% over the past seven days amid anticipation for the ETF’s debut.

A Ripple Milestone

The launch marks the first U.S.-listed spot ETF directly tied to XRP, highlighting the token’s progress toward broader mainstream adoption.

In its first 30 minutes of trading, the fund drew approximately $42 million in volume. At the time of writing, XRPC is trading at $25.60, down 3.9% from its opening price of $26.60.

The listing follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of Canary’s Form 8-A filing earlier this week. BNY Mellon is serving as the fund’s custodian, while Nasdaq will handle daily trading operations.

The milestone comes after years of legal and regulatory uncertainty for Ripple, which has spilled over onto XRP. The SEC’s five-year long lawsuit over whether XRP is a security was officially settled earlier this year after appeals were dropped by both parties.

Experts told The Defiant at the time that the case signals a shift in the SEC’s approach, moving toward clearer rules instead of relying on enforcement; however, overall U.S. crypto rules still remain uncertain.

The Rise of the ETF

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in January 2024, representing a significant moment for the cryptocurrency sector. Bitcoin ETFs currently hold $135.8 billion in total net assets, around 6.67% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization.

In July 2024, Ethereum ETFs marked their debut – these funds currently have a total net asset of $22.14 billion, or 5.42% of Ethereum Market Cap.

Most recently, the first U.S.-based Solana ETFs debuted on Oct. 28, with the launch of the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) and the Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL).