21Shares files for spot XRP ETF with SEC amid Ripple lawsuit

On November 1, 21Shares filed an S-1 registration form with the Securities and Exchanges Commission for a spot XRP ETF. If the regulator approves the filing, the company will establish its 21Shares Core XRP Trust, listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, its custodian.

21Shares Joins Canary Capital and Bitwise in filing for a spot XRP trust

21Shares submitted a registration form to the US regulator for a spot XRP trust, joining multiple companies like Canary Capital and Bitwise, hoping to get their fillings approved. 

A spokesperson at the company commented on the XRP trust filing:

21Shares remains committed to working towards expanding US investor access to the cryptocurrency asset class, and we look forward to driving innovation in the US.

~Spokesperson at 21Shares

However, the 21Shares registration request comes as Ripple is still entangled in a legal confrontation with the SEC. Their legal battle started when the regulator alleged that the company raised over $1.3 billion through the unlawful sale of XRP, which it had then considered an unregistered security.

About a year ago, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of Ripple, deeming the programmatic sale of XRP lawful and a non-violation of the securities law. However, she did classify direct sales to institutional investors as securities, and in August, she settled on a civil penalty of $125 million for Ripple. 

Currently, both parties are appealing parts of her decision despite Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, calling out the commission for being irrational, saying it should have left the case long ago.

Moreover, Garlinghouse has been on record saying that a spot XRP ETF is ‘inevitable’.

21Shares has filed for multiple ETF approvals since the year’s start

The asset management firm received the green light from the US Commission to issue its spot Bitcoin ETF, ARK21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which was approved in January after a long legal battle.

In June, the firm filed another registration form for an exchange-traded fund tied to the Solana token. As of August 26, 2024, 21Shares was still listed on the SEC’s EDGAR database for its application. However, its Cboe 19b-4 form had been rejected. This means that the firm may need to refile its request or amend its 19b-4 forms to gain approval from the commission.