On June 2, NASDAQ filed a rule change proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking to expand the benchmark for the Hashdex NASDAQ Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ).
Currently tracking only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the updated exchange-traded fund (ETF) would instead follow the more inclusive NASDAQ Crypto Index (NCI), also comprising (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA), among others.
The SEC is reviewing the proposal under Rule 19b-4 and has until November 2, 2025, to make a decision.
At press time, XRP is trading at $2.24, a modest 1.70% gain over the past 24 hours, and 5% as in the week since June 2, potentially fueled by optimism over potential index inclusion.
Potential XRP ETFs
If approved, the fund could mark a significant step forward toward mainstream altcoin inclusion in regulated investment products. Recall that a federal court reaffirmed that XRP does not qualify as a security in April this year, so any new developments are a hot topic among investors.
For example, Matt Hougan, the chief investment officer at Bitwise, recently stated that institutional investors were looking to expand beyond just BTC and expressed hope we might see altcoin ETFs by the end of the year.
Bitcoin, Hougan argued, is a ‘great hedge’, and investors are happy to embrace it, but blockchain has more to offer in terms of exposure. XRP, for instance, is a popular choice for cross-border payments, while SOL tends to be leveraged for scalable smart contracts.
The NASDAQ filing also revealed two leadership changes at Hashdex Asset Management Ltd., the sponsor of the Hashdex NASDAQ Crypto Index US ETF. It remains to be seen whether these changes will affect the outcome.
Feature image via Shutterstock
