Since yesterday afternoon, the price of XRP (XRP 0.14%) traded close to 7% down, as of 10:53 a.m. ET today. There's no obvious reason behind the move, but many cryptocurrencies seemed to be struggling today for a few different reasons.
ETF delay
One notable piece of news occurred after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed the conversion of Bitwise's crypto index fund into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Interestingly, the division of trading and markets at the SEC gave Bitwise "accelerated approval" for the ETF conversion yesterday, but then delayed the approval later on, causing confusion.
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Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X last night: "I think they want to put out their generic listing standards first, which is probably coming soon. Get comments. Implement. in time October due dates. That's my theory, anyway."
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
In other news, FxPro's chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich wrote in a research note, as reported by Barron's, that cryptocurrencies lately have been trading on a short-term calendar cycle, with larger inflows at the beginning of the month, but more caution at the end of the month. "Cryptocurrencies are ignoring the positive sentiment on the stock markets: Technical factors are temporarily dominating the agenda," he wrote.
ETF approval for many cryptocurrencies still likely
Spot-crypto ETFs are viewed as a major catalyst for many cryptocurrencies because they tend to lead to increased liquidity and institutional ownership, so investors weren't pleased with the SEC's delay. Still, a spot XRP ETF is still considered likely, with the odds on Polymarket down, but still high at 85%, as of this writing.
XRP is one of a handful of cryptocurrencies I find intriguing, with its strong technical network and potential to play a big role in cross-border payments. Still, the token remains quite volatile, so I'd recommend investors keep positions smaller and more speculative for the time being.
