Analysts had previously forecasted a surge in altcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) set to launch in early October, but a recent U.S. government shutdown has hindered this regulatory approval process. Despite the delay, interest in the sector is reigniting as multiple cryptocurrency ETFs begin to emerge on the market.
One notable entrant is the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, which has garnered an impressive $611 million in assets since its trading debut at the end of October. This renewed activity signals that the long-awaited wave of spot altcoin ETF listings may have finally commenced. Several other crypto ETFs look poised for imminent launch, including the anticipated Bitwise Asset Management XRP ETF, expected to trade as soon as Thursday, according to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart. Additionally, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton are reported to have funds aligned with the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, potentially listing as soon as Monday.
Seyffart remarked, “It looks like [Bitwise] is going to launch their XRP ETF tomorrow,” noting that the relevant documentation is already available on the Bloomberg terminal. The specific ticker symbol for this new fund will be XRP. Efforts to confirm these listings with Bitwise, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton have been initiated, although no official responses have yet been obtained.
The excitement around these recent launches follows a series of fund introductions focusing on Solana and XRP within the last few weeks. Notable new offerings include Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) and Canary Capital’s XRP ETF (XRPC). During this surge, established players like Grayscale, VanEck, Fidelity, and 21Shares have also introduced Solana-focused funds.
The Canary Capital XRP fund distinguished itself by attracting $58 million in daily net investments, outperforming all other debut ETFs in 2025 thus far. This initial momentum eclipsed the Bitwise Solana ETF’s debut, which saw $57 million in inflows, according to Bloomberg data. These robust figures defied initial expectations, with Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas anticipating only around $17 million for the XRPC launch. This surge highlights a growing demand for crypto-focused investment vehicles, spurred by the successful rollouts of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, as well as an increasingly supportive regulatory landscape for digital assets.
Currently, 11 Bitcoin ETFs manage over $130 billion in assets, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust alone accounting for a dominant share of this total. Furthermore, nine Ethereum ETFs collectively oversee investments exceeding $18 billion, showcasing the maturation of the market.
Numerous issuers from both traditional finance and the digital asset realms have proposed a variety of ETFs targeting specific altcoins, bundled token investments, and overall crypto strategies to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Balchunas earlier indicated that he expected the initial round of SEC approvals for these products to begin in early October, potentially leading to an ongoing series of launches. The SEC’s recent move toward adopting generic listing standards bolstered these expectations.
However, the abrupt government shutdown—now the longest in U.S. history—temporarily stalled the approval process, leaving analysts uncertain about the timeline for ETF availability. Sumit Roy, a senior analyst with ETF.com, noted, “The government shutdown kind of slowed that down, but now that it’s reopened, we’re finally getting that deluge—so it’s totally expected. We should expect that to continue for the foreseeable future, at least until we have one or multiple ETFs targeting all the major and mid-tier types of tokens.”
