President of The ETF Store Says Market Not Ready for XRP ETF

Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, recently suggested the market is not prepared to welcome an XRP spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Geraci shared his perspective during an interview with Tony Edward of the Thinking Crypto podcast. Edward highlighted projections suggesting that a Solana or XRP ETF could emerge by 2025 and asked Geraci to assess the likelihood of these crypto investment products coming to market.

XRP Futures ETF Must Precede 

Geraci explained that the introduction of an XRP ETF would require key developments. First, it would need to undergo a similar approval process to that of Bitcoin and Ethereum, where their futures are listed on a venue regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

He cited, for instance, that Solana or XRP futures must be traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Meanwhile, Geraci noted that even with this prerequisite, the U.S. SEC would want to see a track record and history of trading an ETF listed for XRP.

In other words, an XRP futures ETF would need to exist first before the market could ultimately see a spot ETF for XRP. Accordingly, the industry pundit argued that the market is looking at a timeline of several years for these developments to unfold.

Other ETF experts, such as Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, have reiterated similar views. However, Seyffart has emphasized that the earliest timeline for other crypto ETFs after Ethereum is 2026.

Congress May Speed up The Timeline

Meanwhile, the co-founder of The ETF Institute suggested an alternative route for an XRP ETF, which he believes would be much quicker and easier. Specifically, he proposed the establishment of a legitimate regulatory framework for crypto by the U.S. Congress. 

Geraci stated that this framework would need to clearly define what constitutes a security and what constitutes a commodity and delineate oversight responsibilities.

He argued that if such a regulatory framework is implemented, other crypto ETFs could come to the market much sooner. However, he expressed skepticism about the likelihood of Congress enacting such regulations, especially in an election year.

“That’s a long way of saying I don’t expect to see Solana or XRP ETFs come to market anytime soon,” he submitted.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, believes that an XRP ETF could surface as early as next year. While he is confident that an XRP ETF is inevitable, he maintains a flexible stance regarding the exact timeline.