Ripple’s long legal clash with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially come to a close with the two parties filing a joint dismissal.
However, while the legal saga may be over, speculation about the future of Ripple and XRP is not losing any steam.
BlackRock appears to be in the centre of everyone’s attention as the market debates whether the world’s largest asset manager is going to file for a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Is a new XPR ETF coming?
A number of analysts are already optimistic about potential ETF filings on BlackRock’s part.
For instance, Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, thinks this is an ideal moment for the fund to diversify its crypto holdings beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
“Yes, I think BlackRock was waiting to see this before filing for iShares XRP ETF… I’ll own it if I’m wrong. IMO, makes *zero* sense for them to ignore crypto assets beyond btc & eth. Otherwise, they’re basically saying btc & eth are only ones that will ever have value. Bold.” — Nate Geraci
Yes, I think BlackRock was waiting to see this before filing for iShares XRP ETF…
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) August 8, 2025
I’ll own it if I’m wrong.
IMO, makes *zero* sense for them to ignore crypto assets beyond btc & eth.
Otherwise, they’re basically saying btc & eth are only ones that will ever have value. Bold. pic.twitter.com/FtBqMRFpOl
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, also appears bullish, giving the ETF a 95% chance in criticism of a recent drop in approval odds recorded by the market prediction platform Polymarket.
Interesting, trades reporting how Polymarket odds of XRP ETF approval went down to 62% after the votes were disclosed showing Crenshaw voting no, but a) she's gonna vote no on EVERYTHING and b) it's meaningless, she's outnumbered = we haven't changed our odds, still at 95%. https://t.co/TamMn8DHVh pic.twitter.com/Ip9G748HrU
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 7, 2025
Naturally, there are still some legal obstacles in the path. For instance, the $125 million fine levied against Ripple is still in escrow and won’t be transferred to the U.S. Treasury until both parties have formally dropped their appeals.
However, some signs are hard to ignore or argue with. For example, it is clear that a new spot ETF would unlock institutional capital. Indeed, Bitcoin ETFs alone attracted $222 billion in assets under management (AUM) since 2024.
What’s more, Canada’s Purpose XRP ETF saw $37 million in inflows at launch, and the Polymarket approval rate for a Ripple ETF in the U.S. has now risen to 87%, which is a 25% increase since Balchunas’ response yesterday. It also bears mentioning that futures open interest jumped 36% to $4.91 billion, signaling trader anticipation.
Featured image via Shutterstock
