Ripple Invests in Bitwise’s XRP ETP as Token Price Surge

Popular FinTech firm Ripple is set to invest in the exchange-traded product (ETP) offered by Bitwise and offering investors exposure to the native token of the XRP Ledger, XRP, the Bitwise Physical XRP ETF, which recently rebranded from ETC Group Physical XRP.

According to a recent announcement from Bitwise, the rebranding wont alter the ETP’s ticker, GXRP, for the product, which tracks the performance of XRP and allows investors to gain exposure to it through a regulated platform, without having to deal with crypto exchanges or wallets.

The announcement details that the fund allows European investors to gain exposure through the product, which was issued in 2022 under a prospectus approved by Germany’s financial regulator.

It touts that XRP is the world’s fifth-largest digital asset by market capitalization excluding stablecoins, with a market cap of over $80 billion, and that it has “experienced a surge in popularity due to the expanding use cases on the XRP Ledger.”

These expanding use cases include cross-border remittances, decentralized finance applications, and real-world asset tokenization. The XRPL, it adds, is “known for its speed, efficiency, and reliability, which are important features for the many financial services firms that utilize it in their businesses.”

While the announcement reveals Ripple is set to invest in the product, the amount being invested isn’t disclosed. The investment comes after the price of XRP exploded upward over the last few weeks, having surged more than 177% in the past month alone.

The cryptocurrency is now tradin at $1.44 per token, up from around $0.52 at the beginning of the year, but far from its all-time high above the $3 mark seen back in 2018.

Notably, Ripple is a major player in the XRP ecosystem and offers blockchain-based solutions leveraging the token for cross-border transactions. It uses XRP to ensure quick liquidity in its products and is a major XRP whale, having initially owned 80 billion XRP it has gradually been selling.

Featured image via Unsplash.