Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, made bold predictions on May 30, stating that an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US is inevitable. Garlinghouse expressed confidence that XRP, along with other altcoins like Solana and Cardano, could follow in the footsteps of Ether and secure ETF approvals. Speaking at the Consensus 2024 conference, Garlinghouse highlighted the regulatory challenges ahead, particularly the lack of clarity from the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Ether’s status as a security. However, with the recent approval of the Spot Ethereum ETF, there seems to be a trend toward greater acceptance of digital assets within the regulatory framework. Garlinghouse had previously mentioned the potential for an XRP ETF in February 2024, emphasizing the importance of diversification in managing risk, and expressing Ripple’s support for such an ETF. Meanwhile, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, discussed the company’s efforts to promote institutional DeFi and ensure regulatory compliance on decentralized blockchains. Ripple is also making progress in tokenizing real-world assets for use as collateral in DeFi applications, aiming to merge regulatory-compliant products with the flexibility of decentralized finance. Standard Chartered analysts believe that ETF approval for Solana and XRP is unlikely until 2025, considering the current regulatory environment and market conditions.
