Everyone’s filing for an XRP ETF, except BlackRock. Here’s why the giant’s sitting this one out
- August 12, 2025
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Everyone’s filing for an XRP ETF, except BlackRock. Here’s why the giant’s sitting this one out originally appeared on TheStreet .
The SEC and Ripple saga has finally wound down, the XRP price is breaking resistance levels it hasn’t touched in years, and exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers are lining up to ride the wave.
Franklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN), Grayscale , ProShares ... just about every asset manager with a crypto playbook is filing for spot and futures XRP ETFs.
And then there’s BlackRock (NYSE: BLK).
The world’s largest asset manager, the same firm that bulldozed its way to the top of the spot Bitcoin ETF market and swiftly cornered the Ethereum ETF trade, is suddenly… nowhere to be found. No application. No “we’re evaluating options.” Just radio silence except for a carefully worded “no plans at this time.”
Join the discussion with CryptoWendyO on Roundtable here.
For context, BlackRock manages a staggering $11.5 trillion — that includes global ETF dominance, massive institutional accounts, and more. Meanwhile, Franklin Templeton, another XRP ETF filer, manages a solid $1.6 trillion, giving it scale but not anywhere near BlackRock’s scope. And ProShares, the niche ETF wizard with aggressive strategies, oversees around $70 billion in assets.
For a company that usually smells opportunity before the rest of Wall Street even wakes up, this is not business as usual. But if you step back and think about BlackRock’s DNA, the reasons start to make sense.
They don’t chase every rally
BlackRock’s dominance in the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF markets came from calculated, low-risk entries into high-demand products. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two cryptocurrencies with the deepest liquidity, the most mature derivatives markets, and the clearest institutional demand.
BlackRock remains the clear leader in spot Bitcoin ETFs, with cumulative inflows of roughly $57.9 billion into its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) — nearly five times the $12.05 billion handled by Fidelity ’s FBTC and dwarfing smaller issuers like Bitwise , Ark, and Invesco. Most issuers, including BlackRock and Fidelity, charge a 0.25% management fee, making scale and brand dominance the key differentiators in capturing flows.
Join the discussion with Scott Melker on Roundtable here.
While XRP has a devoted global community, and its payment rails are used in real-world cross-border transfers. But in the eyes of a massive asset manager catering to pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, XRP doesn’t yet have the same “core portfolio” status that BTC and ETH enjoy.