Crypto’s Wall Street Debut? 🙄

by

Well, really. It seems even they can’t ignore the digital shilling any longer. XRP, bless its little heart, has deigned to join a Nasdaq-listed crypto ETF. One suspects the SEC finally caved, though they’ll naturally claim it was a perfectly logical progression.

XRP Attempts Respectability: Joins Nasdaq ETF in a Regulatory Shuffle

XRP, against all odds (and one might add, a rather checkered past 🤨), is suddenly finding itself rather… fashionable in American financial circles. Hashdex Asset Management, bless their optimistic souls, announced their ETF, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (Nasdaq: NCIQ), has expanded its portfolio. Apparently, “the first multi-asset spot crypto ETP in the United States” needed a dash more volatility. The SEC, naturally, has permitted this under their delightfully vague “generic listing standards.” One shudders to think what standards those might be.

As the announcement so eloquently explains:

Initially launched with spot bitcoin and ether, NCIQ will now provide exposure to spot bitcoin, ether, XRP, solana, and stellar-representing over $3 trillion in combined market capitalization-through a single, tradable product.

Marcelo Sampaio, a chap with a remarkably straight face, co-founder and CEO of Hashdex, declared this a “major milestone.” Oh, capital idea! He further elaborated that it will provide investors a simpler way to participate in this “fast-growing crypto industry.” Isn’t that just *darling*? One suspects “fast-growing” is a euphemism for “utterly unpredictable.” He’s positively thrilled about his partnership with Nasdaq, who seem equally delighted to get involved. Really, one almost feels sorry for them. 😇

The SEC’s filing, naturally, is full of legalese, but the gist is this:

In reliance on the new generic listing rules … the Trust will be permitted to hold additional crypto assets that are constituents of the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index (NCIUSS).

Which, translated into plain English, means they’re expanding the assets involved and hoping for the best. They will be tracking bitcoin ( BTC), ethereum ( ETH), solana ( SOL), stellar lumens ( XLM), and XRP ( XRP), and will reshuffle them quarterly. One does hope there’s a very good accountant involved.

The ETF, after some bureaucratic approval in December 2024, unsurprisingly began trading in February. And the SEC, in a fit of unparalleled generosity, also approved the Grayscale Coindesk Crypto 5 ETF. All very modern, darling. All very… uncertain. 🙄

Read More

2025-09-26 03:08