SEC opens Franklin Templeton XRP, SOLANA ETF proposals to comments

The Tuesday letters will prolong the SEC’s deadline to approve or disapprove of the ETFs until late July, but it may be extended further at that time.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested public comments on two proposed cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, from asset management firm Franklin Templeton, which will be listed on the Chicago Board Options BZX Exchange.

In separate filings on Tuesday, the SEC revealed that it was taking procedures to allow the US exchange to list and trade shares of the Franklin XRP ETF and Franklin Solana ETF. The Cboe BZX Exchange submitted a proposed rule adjustment to the SEC in March to allow for the approval of the investment vehicle, which the agency delayed in April, pushing the decision deadline to Tuesday.  

“Institution of proceedings does not indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusions concerning any of the issues involved,” according to the SEC in both reports.The Commission instead invites and encourages interested individuals to share their comments on the proposed rule change.

The SEC letters, once published in the federal register, effectively postpone the deadline for deciding whether to accept or disapprove the Franklin Templeton ETFs by 35 days, to July. The US authority has permitted spot investment vehicles for Bitcoin (BTC $105,352) and Ether (ETH $2,535). However, companies are competing to be the first to approve tokens such as XRP, Solana (SOL $148.10), and others.  

A new day at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Chair Atkins?

Multiple asset managers, such as Bitwise, ProShares, and 21Shares, have already filed applications with the SEC to list and trade investment products linked to SOL or XRP. Under the Trump administration and the president’s nominee to lead the agency, Paul Atkins, the SEC has dramatically changed its regulatory stance to digital assets, dismissing many high-profile enforcement investigations against cryptocurrency companies. It is unclear whether this treatment of digital assets will apply to ETFs based on XRP or Solana. However, Trump advocated including both assets in his plans for a US cryptocurrency stockpile.

Crypto-asset investments are high-risk; you may lose your capital.