The cryptocurrency market has been abuzz with the highly anticipated launch of several spot XRP Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), with Bitwise officially submitting its Form 8-A on November 19 for its own spot XRP ETF. This crucial filing, which drew significant attention from the XRP community, positioned the investment product for a swift launch, expected as early as November 20, and slated for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Leading U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase was confirmed as the custodian for this product, adding an additional layer of institutional credibility.

The XRP community held high expectations, predicting this could mark XRP’s most significant debut on Wall Street to date. The proposed fund, formally named the Bitwise XRP ETF, is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered at Bitwise’s San Francisco office, signaling a robust institutional framework. Despite the necessary regulations from the SEC being in place, final approval was still pending, yet the market eagerly anticipated its launch.

However, despite strong institutional interest and the launch of multiple XRP ETFs, XRP’s price performance told a different story. According to CoinGecko data, the XRP token slipped to an intraday low of $1.98, officially falling below the $2.00 mark. This decline was part of a broader trend, as Ripple-linked cryptocurrency plunged by 16% over the past week, facing intense selling pressure alongside other major cryptocurrencies amid a market sell-off driven by fading hopes of Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Even with Bitwise’s XRP product surpassing $22 million in trading volume, demonstrating robust institutional demand, the ETF failed to push XRP's price higher. Similarly, Canary Capital's XRPC, the very first spot XRP ETF, pulled in approximately $58 million in volume on its first trading day, yet XRP’s price dropped about 4.3% shortly after, collapsing to $2.22. This highlighted that selling pressure was too strong for bulls to overcome. Notably, since there was no significant rally ahead of the ETF launches, the subsequent plunge did not qualify as a traditional “sell-the-news” event.

Amidst these market dynamics, the utility and potential of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) continue to expand. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted the growing use cases for XRPL, noting its evolution beyond just payments to supporting tokenized assets, ETFs, and additional financial instruments. This expansion potentially opens the door to new decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities. Garlinghouse even engaged the community on social media, discussing future possibilities for the network as DeFi protocols and applications emerge.

J. Ayo Akinyele, head of engineering at RippleX, further elaborated on XRPL's journey, emphasizing its original purpose of efficient value transfer but acknowledging its current capacity to handle tokenized assets and facilitate real-time liquidity between markets. The presence of live spot XRP ETFs, like Canary, and the expectation of more, underscore a growing shift towards institutional participation in XRP-based financial products. This evolution has also sparked discussions within the community regarding whether XRPL could support native staking, a concept requiring careful design to align with its unique principles, given that it is not a Proof-of-Stake chain.

In the broader cryptocurrency market, there are indications of a potential altcoin phase, as highlighted by an analyst observing a breakout in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the ETH/BTC daily chart. This suggests increased buying strength and Ethereum gaining momentum relative to Bitcoin. Ethereum has notably held above its critical $3,000 support zone, although investor caution remains, with trading volume still subdued. Analysts anticipate a reversal soon, with the community eagerly awaiting the upcoming Fusaka upgrade in early December.