Franklin Templeton joins XRP race and VanEck eyes AVAX fund amid altcoin ETF craze

Amid a busy day in the world of crypto exchange-traded funds, Franklin Templeton on Tuesday filed an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the Franklin XRP Trust.Following filings from the likes of Bitwise, Grayscale and WisdomTree, among others, Franklin Templeton is now the largest asset manager to file for a spot XRP ETF. Under the Trump administration, crypto-friendly policies have fueled a surge in ETF filings beyond bitcoin and ether.Besides VanEck registering in Delaware on Monday for what's believed to be the first AVAX ETF, Grayscale filed late last month for a spot Polkadot fund. Then, last week, Canary Capital filed an S-1 registration for the right to launch an Axelar ETF.Elsewhere on Tuesday, the SEC acknowledged Grayscale's HBAR ETF filing and Bitwise's Dogecoin filing. The agency delayed taking the next steps for Grayscale's XRP and Dogecoin proposals, as well as Canary Capital's Litecoin, Solana and XRP proposals. The agency also delayed the next steps on VanEck's Solana ETF.Of note, Cboe BZX Exchange filed a proposed rule change that would pave the way for adding staking to Fidelity’s ether ETF."No surprise… will just take some time. New SEC Chairman not even in place yet," ETF Store President Nate Geraci said in a post on X about today's delays.While different types of altcoin filing pile up, Bloomberg ETF analysts recently estimated that Litecoin ETFs have the highest chance of approval, putting the odds at a 90% chance of approval. Dogecoin funds received a 75% chance of approval, followed by Solana (70%) and XRP (65%) products.The SEC approved the listing of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and spot Ethereum ETFs in July. A new crypto task force, led by Republican SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, will work on distinguishing which "crypto assets" are securities, among many other priorities.Institutional interest in spot Ethereum ETFs surged last quarter, with overall ETH ETF ownership rising from 4.8% to 14.5%, while spot Bitcoin ETF ownership saw a slight decline from 22.3% to 21.5%.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.