BlackRock has made a bold move on Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, but on Friday the asset manager said it has no plans to file with the Spot XRP Exchange Trade Fund. (ETF)I hope that community entries will help extend XRP’s 2025 rally.
This statement – was made the day after the Securities and Exchange Commission (seconds) Ripple Labs then jointly called on the Court of Appeals to dismiss each appeal, indicating that they would end the nearly five-year legal battle. Investors questioned why BlackRock was on the sidelines.
Several asset managers, including ProShares, Grayscale and Bitise, have been applying for XRP ETFs since late 2024, but BlackRock’s absence is noteworthy, especially given its advantage in the Bitcoin and ether ETF market.
Here are five reasons why BlackRock is rushing to launch its Spot XRP ETF, despite the XRP community hoping for a demand-driven price surge.
First, BlackRock cites the limited interest of clients in cryptocurrencies beyond BTC and ETH. In March 2024, Robert Mitchnick, the Asset Manager’s Digital Asset Manager, said there was a misconception that BlackRock has the “long tail” of other crypto services.
“On our client base, Bitcoin is by far the No. 1 focus, and I can say it’s a bit of Ethereum,” he said in a fireplace chat at the first Bitcoin Investors Day meeting in New York on March 22.
Second, BlackRock’s strategic attention on regulatory uncertainty plays a role.
Although the sale of XRP on public exchanges is considered unproven, Altcoins’ broader regulatory framework remains vague. BlackRock may be waiting for clearer SEC guidelines before entering the AltCoin ETF space.
The company’s conservative approach is in contrast to its competitors such as Proshares, who applied for the Spot XRP ETF in January 2025 along with the leverage-based XRP ETF.
Third, BlackRock may see reduced returns when pursuing a spot XRP ETF, taking into account the busy field. As of August 2025, at least seven companies, including Grayscale, Franklin Templeton and 21shares, have a pending Spot XRP ETF application.
Fourth, expectations for a surge in prices in the XRP community may not be consistent with BlackRock’s data-driven strategy. SEC’s polymake odds approved for SPOT XTP ETF in 2025 are 77%. While Ethereum and Solana’s BlackRock tokenized money market funds have shown blockchain interest, the small market footprint of XRP may not justify the operating costs of new ETFs.
Finally, BlackRock’s global perspective prioritizes markets where XRP is less prominent. The XRP community, active on platforms like X, is forecasting the promotional demand for Spot ETFs, but much of the XRP trading volume comes from Asia, where BlackRock ETFs are not dominated.
XRP had traded around $3.1852 in the last 24 hours, down 3.92%, according to Coindesk data.
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