Franklin Templeton, an asset manager with over $1.5 trillion in assets, has joined the race to launch an XRP ETF in the U.S. Notably, The Crypto Basic initially reported the development on its official X handle. The leading asset manager officially submitted an S-1 registration with the U.S. SEC yesterday, March 11. This follows the asset manager’s earlier registration of an XRP Trust in Delaware. https://twitter.com/thecryptobasic/status/1899661120270733470Key Details of Franklin XRP Trust Like previous filings from other asset managers, the Franklin XRP Trust will track XRP’s price performance, giving investors indirect exposure to the underlying asset. According to the filing , Franklin Templeton structured the fund as a Delaware Statutory Trust and selected Coinbase Custody as the custodian of the fund's XRP assets. While CSC Delaware Trust Company will serve as the fund's sole trustee, an unnamed custodian will manage the XRP Trust’s cash holdings. This unnamed entity will also serve as the transfer agent and administrator of the fund. Furthermore, Franklin sponsors the XRP Trust, and the company will serve as its marketing agent. Interestingly, the asset manager disclosed that shares of its XRP Trust will be listed and traded on the Cboe BZX exchange. Other prospective issuers, such as WisdomTree, Canary Capital, and 21Shares, also selected Cboe BZX as the platform for trading shares of their XRP ETFs. Ripple CEO Reacts Interestingly, Franklin’s XRP ETF filing prompted reactions from top crypto stakeholders, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The Ripple CEO posted an eye emoji in reaction to the development, expressing delight and drawing the XRP community’s attention to the news. In addition, Nate Geraci, the President of The ETF Store, also reacted to the development, characterizing Franklin Templeton as a ‘big name.’ Next Step Following Franklin’s XRP ETF S-1 application, Cboe must submit a 19b-4 filing with the SEC, signaling its interest in listing shares of the fund. Like other prospective XRP ETF issuers, Franklin will wait for the SEC to acknowledge the exchange application of its XRP ETF. Once this happens, the SEC must decide whether to approve or deny the launch of the Franklin XRP Trust within a 240-day window,Meanwhile, several industry experts believe the SEC will acknowledge the filing, as it did with other related filings. Notably, filings for XRP ETFs continue to surface despite the ongoing SEC v. Ripple lawsuit. That case still lingers in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. While the current SEC leadership has been pausing and dismissing other crypto-related lawsuits, it has not issued an official decision regarding the Ripple case. According to some legal experts, the delay is due to Garlinghouse's negotiation to overturn the trial court’s decision that its XRP institutional sales constitute investment contracts. Recall that this finding prompted the judge to impose a $125 million fine against the company and an injunction against its future XRP sales to institutional clients. Overturning this decision would allow Ripple to continue selling XRP to institutional clients and potentially end the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the coin.
