Speculation that BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, could eventually file for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) has intensified following comments from Jake Claver, Chairman of Digital Ascension Group. Claver voiced his belief that a BlackRock XRP ETF might be on the horizon, pointing to growing institutional use of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and a more favorable regulatory climate.
No official filing from BlackRock exists; the discussion remains strictly in the realm of personal opinion. Claver’s remarks, made during a podcast interview, suggested that an ETF could materialize “eventually” but noted that XRP would likely need to reach a significantly higher price for widespread settlement applications. Meanwhile, BlackRock continues to broaden its crypto product suite—its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA) is set to debut on Nasdaq on June 16—but the firm has not signaled interest in an XRP-based fund.
Institutional attention around XRPL has been building independently of BlackRock’s product plans. Odelia Torteman, director of XRPL Commons, recently stated that firms including BlackRock, Mastercard, and Franklin Templeton have been exploring the ledger for cross-asset payments and regulatory-compliant infrastructure. Ripple has further boosted utility by integrating a Mexican peso-backed stablecoin (MXNB), launching an AI Starter Kit for agent-based payments, and supporting the X402 protocol to let AI agents transact with XRP and RLUSD.
While a BlackRock XRP ETF remains hypothetical, the landscape is not entirely empty.Franklin Templeton has already submitted an S-1 registration with the SEC for an XRP ETF, confirming that at least one major asset manager sees a viable path forward. Concrete signals—an S-1 or 19b-4 filing, an official statement from BlackRock’s iShares division, or a formal exchange listing application—would be needed to elevate the rumor to a credible development. Until then, the chatter is best classified as market speculation.
