BlackRock Maintains Stance Against XRP ETF as Rival Funds Hold $1.77 Billion
The world’s largest asset manager continues to pass on an XRP ETF, leaving seven competing products to capture a modest share of circulating supply.
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BlackRock Maintains Stance Against XRP ETF as Rival Funds Hold $1.77 Billion
The world's largest asset manager continues to pass on an XRP ETF, leaving seven competing products to capture a modest share of circulating supply.
BlackRock Holds Firm on XRP ETF Exclusion
BlackRock, the major asset manager overseeing roughly $15 trillion, maintains its position of having no plans to launch a spot XRP ETF. According to Cryptobriefing, the firm first communicated this stance in August 2025 following the resolution of Ripple's long-running lawsuit with the SEC, maintaining the position through late September 2026.
The asset manager has kept its cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund lineup strictly focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, outlined a five-factor framework in September 2025 used to evaluate potential crypto ETFs, ranking client demand as the most critical factor alongside market value, liquidity, maturity, and portfolio fit.
Rival Funds Accumulate Assets Despite Major Absence
While BlackRock remains absent from the sector, seven rival US issuers have introduced spot XRP ETFs. Data from late September 2026 shows these collective funds holding approximately $1.77 billion in assets, which equates to roughly 1.18 billion XRP tokens or about 1.9% of the asset's circulating supply.
A Motley Fool analysis cited by Cryptobriefing suggests that BlackRock's continued absence provides a bearish signal for the token in the near term. The publication notes that other institutional players may take notice if the world's largest asset manager repeatedly determines that client demand is insufficient.
Stablecoin Collateral Acceptance and Market Metrics
Despite passing on an XRP product, BlackRock accepts Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, as collateral within BUIDL, its tokenized Treasury fund. However, analysts point out that accepting a steady value stablecoin is distinct from launching an ETF based on a volatile asset like XRP.
Key data points moving forward include tracking the assets under management across the seven active XRP ETFs, monitoring any shifts in BlackRock's official commentary, and observing whether the share of circulating supply held by these exchange-traded products climbs significantly above the current 1.9% threshold.
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