The SEC strikes again! The five major XRP Spot ETFs have collectively been postponed to a ruling in October, and encryption regulatory conservatism continues to dominate the U.S. market.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a postponement of the decision deadline for the XRP Spot ETF proposals submitted by five institutions, including 21Shares, Bitwise, CoinShares, Canary Capital, and Grayscale, with the final decision date unified to mid to late October 2025. This move continues the SEC's conservative tendency in approving encryption ETF products and corresponds with the recent postponement of the decision on the Truth Social Bitcoin Ethereum ETF and Litecoin (LTC) Spot ETF. The market expects that all pending encryption ETFs (including SOL, DOGE, and other alts) may be concentrated for decision in October, but the world's largest asset management company BlackRock has publicly excluded the possibility of applying for an XRP ETF.

Five major XRP ETFs collectively delayed, October becomes a key decision window

The SEC officially announced on August 20 that it will extend the review period for the 21Shares Core XRP Trust Spot ETF application by an additional 60 days from the original deadline of August 20, setting the new decision deadline to October 19. The proposal was initially submitted on February 6, 2025, and an amended version (Amendment No. 1) was submitted on February 12. The extension aims to provide the SEC with ample time to weigh public opinions and regulatory factors under the framework of the Securities Exchange Act. If no approval or disapproval decision is made by October 19, the SEC will automatically lose its statutory review authority over the proposal. On the same day, the SEC issued similar delay announcements regarding the XRP Spot ETF proposals submitted by Bitwise, Grayscale, and CoinShares, extending the decision window to October. The market widely expects that the SEC will adopt a bulk centralized approval strategy for similar products, following the previous model of approving Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETFs. Based on this, all pending Spot ETFs (including those not mentioned today, such as WisdomTree, Franklin Templeton, and REX-Osprey) may face a unified decision by the earliest deadline of October 18. It is worth noting that asset management giant BlackRock has publicly stated that it will not apply for an XRP ETF.

The wave of regulatory delays spreads, various crypto ETF approvals are hindered

This delay is the latest example of the SEC's systematic postponement of the approval of encryption asset ETFs. Previously, CoinGape reported that the SEC has postponed the decision on the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs to October 8. In addition, the SEC announced on August 24 that it would delay its decision on the CoinShares Litecoin (LTC) Spot ETF, with the final decision date set for October 23. Canary Capital and Grayscale also submitted applications for the LTC Spot ETF, facing the same delay fate. Apart from XRP and LTC, the SEC has also postponed the approval of the revised proposal for the 21Shares Ethereum Spot ETF involving staking features and the Grayscale DOGE Spot ETF, with the final decision deadline also set for October. The SEC's pending review list also includes Spot ETFs for alts such as SOL, ADA, HBAR, PENGU, and AVAX.

Conclusion

The SEC's collective decision to postpone the approval of spot ETFs for XRP and others highlights the ongoing cautious attitude of U.S. regulatory agencies towards innovation in cryptocurrency financial products. Although the concentrated ruling window in October provides a clear timetable for the market, the uncertainty of the approval outcomes has intensified the wait-and-see sentiment among institutional investors. If the SEC maintains its current conservative stance, it may further reinforce the monopolistic position of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the compliant ETF market, forcing competitive public chains like XRP, SOL, and LTC to seek listing paths in non-U.S. markets or alternative derivative solutions. The game between regulatory pace and market innovation demands will reach a critical showdown this autumn.