XRP’s Significant Advancement
XRP has taken a significant leap forward by being added to the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, signaling a potentially transformative moment for institutional cryptocurrency investment.
Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF Announcement
On June 6, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF made an announcement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding an essential update to its benchmark index. This adjustment, which came into effect on June 2, broadened the index’s selection to incorporate four new digital currencies alongside the established giants of bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).
New Constituents of the Index
Starting June 2, 2025, the new constituents of the index will include cardano (ADA), solana (SOL), stellar lumens (XLM), and XRP (XRP). The ETF, identified by its ticker NCIQ, offers market-weighted exposure to BTC and ETH while operating within a regulatory framework that governs exchange-traded funds.
It aims to track the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, which employs a systematic approach that allows it to adopt new digital assets in the future.
Regulatory Constraints and Risks
Despite the index’s expansion, the Hashdex ETF is currently restricted by regulations that prevent it from holding any cryptocurrencies outside of BTC and ETH, which poses a risk for performance discrepancies. This regulatory gap means the ETF may diverge from the index’s new constituents, leading to potential tracking errors given the differing asset allocation.
The filing with the SEC highlighted this issue, noting that as per existing regulations, the Trust is only allowed to contain bitcoin and ethernet, thus exaggerating the risk of tracking error.
Request for Rule Change
To address these constraints, Nasdaq filed a request with the SEC on March 7 for a rule change that would allow the ETF to officially align itself with the expanded Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI), which includes BTC, ETH, XRP, and other assets such as chainlink (LINK), litecoin (LTC), and uniswap (UNI). XRP was included in the NCI on June 3, 2024.
If the SEC grants approval for this change, the ETF would be authorized to invest in all listed index currencies. An official decision from the SEC is anticipated by November 2, 2025, which could reshape the landscape for institutional cryptocurrency investments.
