Brazil Breaks Ground with First-Ever XRP ETF—Crypto Traders Get a Regulated On-Ramp

Latin America’s largest economy just handed crypto bulls a loaded weapon. The world’s first XRP exchange-traded fund launched on Brazil’s B3 exchange today—bypassing the SEC’s endless foot-dragging on US crypto ETFs.

Why it matters: Forget mining or OTC desks. This gives institutional investors a clean, regulated way to bet on Ripple’s embattled token without touching the underlying asset. Cue the hedge fund pitch decks.

The fine print: Hashdex’s new ETF tracks CME CF XRP Reference Rate, not spot prices. Translation? Wall Street’s ’not your keys’ crowd gets exposure without the custody headaches—and another excuse to ignore decentralized exchanges.

Bottom line: While New York regulators still treat crypto like radioactive waste, Brazil’s move proves emerging markets will keep eating Wall Street’s lunch. Just don’t expect the usual suspects to admit it over their $28 artisanal coffees.

Brazil’s XRP ETF Goes Live

Hashdex first won approval to trade this XRP ETF in Brazil in February. Although the firm has pursued several crypto ETFs in the US, it recognized Brazil as a potential focus area nearly two years ago.

Today, Hashdex’s efforts are bearing fruit, as B3 announced earlier.

“XRPH11 is part of Hashdex’s line of mono-asset funds, such as the ETFs BITH11, ETHE11 and SOLH11. The focus of these ETFs is sophisticated investors, such as institutional investors who want to build crypto portfolios on B3,” Samir Kerbage, CIO of Hashdex, said in a statement to local media.

XRPH11 will invest at least 95% of its assets in XRP, although it will consist of direct and indirect holdings. So far, it doesn’t seem like any trading data from its first day is publicly available, but Hashdex’s site confirms that XRPH11 is live already.

Nonetheless, Brazil has won a major accomplishment, as the first-ever XRP ETF is trading in its markets. US-based regulators have been signaling their willingness to approve these products, but the applicants are still waiting.

Compared to this drawn-out process, Brazil’s green light in February and market launch in April seem downright speedy.

Last year, Brazilian regulators also approved the world’s first Solana ETF, although it did not have much of an immediate market impact. Hopefully, this situation will not replicate itself in today’s trade data; there are several worrying signs in XRP’s price movements.

If Brazil’s new ETF lands with a thud for XRP as it did for Solana, this might spell further bearishness.

Either way, XRPH11’s trading performance will contain several useful information. The US ETF market could soon face a flood of altcoin products, and these may not stand a chance of capturing Bitcoin’s market dominance.

As of now, Polymarket shows a 74% chance of an XRP ETF approval in the US by the end of this year.