XRP has risen about 12% over the past 24 hours to about $2.52 after the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) added five spot XRP ETFs to its “active and pre-launch” list.
These listings, which can be found in DTCC’s public database, have sparked speculation that the long-anticipated exchange-traded product for XRP is nearing launch, following the model set by the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF earlier this year.
Why DTCC’s listing is important but doesn’t mean it’s on sale yet
Listing on DTCC is a major milestone. The company is a core clearing and settlement operator for the U.S. securities market, processing more than $37 trillion in transactions by 2024.
All ETFs traded on U.S. exchanges must be registered through DTCC, which is the central node connecting Wall Street and digital assets.
However, it is important to note that listing on the DTCC site does not mean that a fund is approved or ready for trading.
This indicates that the issuer and its custodian have completed preparatory work such as creating the ticker, CUSIP, and backend infrastructure while awaiting SEC approval.
This is an important difference. When the Spot Bitcoin ETF first appeared on DTCC’s site in late 2023, the market reacted quickly, driving the Bitcoin ETF higher even before the product went public.
How XRP ETFs impact market structure and access
The same pattern was repeated with the Ethereum ETF, which went public a few weeks before its approval in June.
The XRP lawsuit follows a similar strategy. So it’s a game of initial infrastructure setup, speculative enthusiasm, and waiting for regulatory approval.
If the SEC approves these funds, it will open up a new institutional route to XRP exposure. Traditional brokers and asset managers have been able to route liquidity through familiar ETF vehicles instead of going through crypto exchanges.
The change could reduce friction with retirement accounts and mutual fund allocators, who are typically prohibited from purchasing cryptocurrencies directly.
It would also strengthen XRP’s position as a regulated investment product, increase market depth, and tie it more closely to the U.S. financial system.
Regulatory obstacles between listing and launch
However, some hurdles remain for XRP. The SEC has not yet issued a formal ruling on the XRP ETF application, and no public 19b-4 filing or S-1 form has been cleared for trading. DTCC listing alone does not imply approval, as some entries on the database never proceed to launch.
That confirms that issuers are preparing in parallel to bet on eventual regulatory clarity following Ripple’s partial court victory last year that classified programmatic XRP sales as non-securities.
The price response shows how sensitive the market is to small steps in institutional integration. After weeks of weak trading, XRP hit a new all-time high on the hourly chart, extending the gains that started earlier in the week.
The move is a departure from consolidation driven by ETF headlines. Whether these gains are sustained depends less on the DTCC’s database and more on whether the SEC allows these products to move from pre-launch status to actual trading.
If that happens, the market structure of XRP may change. ETF inflows add a layer of demand independent of spot trading flows, thereby smoothing out volatility and tying XRP performance more closely to fund creation and redemptions.
For issuers, it is an opportunity to earn yield from the liquidity of their assets and attract the same kind of institutional capital that has reshaped Bitcoin’s trading ecosystem.
The market is currently waiting for the next milestone. That’s the day the “pre-launch” label is removed and replaced with “production.” Until then, a DTCC listing remains a promise that the market has already begun to price in.