With the launch of the world’s first exchange-traded fund meant to track the spot price of XRP, the cryptocurrency linked to Ripple, Brazil has struck another landmark in digital asset integration into traditional finance. The trading of this new fund kicked off on April 25 on B3, Brazil’s leading stock exchange. As investment products positioned against particular cryptocurrencies, “regulated investment products” are still relatively sparse, as noted in the press release by Valor Econômico. With the introduction of a spot XRP ETF, institutional investors in Brazil now have a straightforward, regulated vehicle to access XRP’s performance without directly owning the cumbersome cryptocurrency.
Fund Structure and Management
The newly introduced ETF is officially named Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Fundo de Índice (FI). Hashdex, the managing asset of the fund, is a Brazilian asset manager with a reputation for focusing on digital asset investment products within Brazil’s regulatory boundaries. Genial Investments Securities Brokerage SA takes care of the fund’s administrative management, while the underlying assets custodian is Genial Bank SA. The fund is listed and trades under the ticker symbol XRPH11 on the B3 stock exchange.
The ETF is designed to replicate the performance of an index, NQXRP, which aims to capture the real-time spot price of XRP on major cryptocurrency exchanges. This ensures that the fund value steers in accordance with the market price of the digital asset.
Axis of Regulation
The approval of Brazil’s authorities was necessary for the world’s first spot XRP ETF to be launched. The CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) approved the XRP-centered ETF in February. With this decision, the CVM has taken a more welcoming stance towards digital asset products, building on its approval earlier in August 2023 of Hashdex’s spot Solana ETF. Through the CVM’s approvals of single-asset spot crypto ETFs, we can see clear intent toward using certain cryptocurrencies to structure regulated financial instruments, which will be available in national exchanges. After the XRP crypto ETF’s regulatory approval, it went into a ‘pre-operational’ phase where it sought to complete the XB3 exchange’s listing and trading stipulations of “XRPH11”.
Framework of Asset Deployment and Expense Policy
The asset structure of the XRPH11 ETF will require a high XRP allocation as well as assets related to XRP.
As the fund’s official documentation outlines, no less than 95% of net assets will be allocated to XRP itself or to digital assets, securities, or futures that are directly related to the underlying asset XRP Reference Price Index (NQXRP). This guarantees that the fund offers a considerable amount of direct exposure to the value changes of XRP. Upon its launch, the ETF reported a net worth of close to 40 million dollars, which indicates initial capital commitment to the fund. From a cost perspective, XRPH11 comes with a competitively structured fee. The fund charges a maximum annual fee of 0.7%, which is inclusive of administration, management, and distribution services. There is also a custody fee, which is not to exceed 0.1% per year, that the fund is required to pay. The fund is noted as not imposing any separate structuring fees, thereby improving the clarity of the cost for investors.
Hashdex’s Tailored Services for Institutional Clients
With the launch of the spot XRP ETF, Hashdex now offers a total of nine cryptocurrency-focused ETFs, which can be traded on the B3 exchange. Samir Kerbage, Hashdex’s chief investment officer, noted on the new product that “XRPH11 joins the firm’s mono-asset ETFs BITH11, ETHE11, and SOLH11.” It is clear now that Hashdex has a strategic aim to offer singular investment funds for primary cryptocurrencies. As stated, these funds, together with the newly launched XRP ETF, serve primarily institutional investors who want regulated investment exposure to digital assets and who navigate through the compliant financial ecosystem markets within Brazil’s infrastructure.
Wider Scenario and How Things Stand in the US
Brazil’s announcement of a spot XRP ETF comes at a time when the world is still awaiting similar investment offers in the US. Coinbase also seeks to offer Spro, Solana, and XRP ETFs alongside several other digital asset funds. All of this is happening with the SEC finally ending its relentless pursuit of Ripple. The SEC had tried so hard to prove Ripple wrong in the US that they lost track of logic for over four years. It all began with the SEC claim in December 2020, in which they alleged Ripple had sold XRP tokens in an unregistered securities offering. Ripple claimed the offering was worth 1.3 billion dollars.
IT was noted in court that Ripple’s defense was asserting XRP is not a security and is a currency instead. At the end of June, the SEC put forth a challenge stating, ‘Whatever gamble you were taking will still be costly.’ US Judge Torres declined to add an exchange clause, arguing public exchange trades are blindly controlled by the market and hence left untouchable. At the start of March 2025, Ripple reached an agreement, marking the end of the dispute with the SEC.
As part of the deal, Ripple is to pay 50 million dollars of the fine, while the remaining 75 million is to be returned. Both sides agreed to cease their appeals, thus concluding the litigation. This settlement offers increased understanding regarding XRP’s classification in the United States, although Brazil has gone ahead of others by offering regulated investment access to its spot price.
