The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again delayed its decision on Franklin Templeton's proposed XRP spot ETF, extending the deadline to June 17, 2025. Although some investors are concerned, experts assure that this delay is not cause for alarm.
Why is the decision being delayed?
The main reason is that XRP futures contracts are not yet active on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The SEC has followed a clear pattern with other crypto ETFs, such as those for Bitcoin and Ethereum: they wait for futures markets to be operational and accumulate sufficient data volume before evaluating the approval of a spot ETF. This allows for a reliable market sample for regulatory oversight.
Delays also for other crypto ETFs
XRP is not the only one affected. The SEC is also delaying decisions related to ETFs linked to Ethereum staking and Dogecoin. According to James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, further delays are expected this week in applications involving cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL) and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR).
Most of the final deadlines for these applications won't come until late 2025, leaving enough time for the regulatory process to move forward.
It's worth noting that Paul Atkins recently assumed a new position within the SEC, which could affect decision-making timelines while a new joint policy direction is defined with other commissioners, such as Hester Peirce.
Strategic Delay Due to the Ripple Lawsuit?
Amid the debate over XRP, an interesting theory emerged on social media: if the SEC and Ripple Labs consider settling their long-running legal dispute with a payment in XRP tokens instead of cash, the SEC could be delaying approval of the spot ETF until such a deal is finalized.
This is because an official approval of the ETF would likely boost the price of XRP, which could alter the final value of the deal if settled in tokens.
Currently, the SEC vs. Ripple case is in abeyance (legal pause) while both sides negotiate a potential settlement. The deadline for this resolution is set for June 10, 2025, just a week before the new date set for the decision on the XRP spot ETF.
