The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again delayed its decision on Franklin Templeton's proposed XRP Spot ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again delayed its decision on Franklin Templeton's proposed XRP Spot ETF, pushing the deadline to June 17th, 2025. While some investors are getting nervous

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has shifted the final decision deadline for Franklin Templeton’s proposed XRP Spot ETF application once more, extending it to June 17th, 2025.

While this news might stir anxiety among investors, experts like James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, highlight that such delays are to be expected and shouldn’t spark panic. The SEC typically prefers to see CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) futures contracts for a cryptocurrency fully operational and collect sufficient trading data before considering approval for a spot ETF.

This strategy ensures the SEC has a valuable sample of the market to assess before granting approval for a spot ETF, especially given the SEC’s role in protecting investors and maintaining market stability.

The SEC is also delaying decisions on other crypto-related ETFs, including those tied to Ethereum staking and Dogecoin. According to Seyffart, further delays this week are anticipated for ETF applications linked to Solana (SOL) and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR).

The majority of these applications’ final deadlines fall in late 2025, leaving ample time for the regulatory process to unfold. Additionally, Paul Atkins has recently joined the SEC, and it might take some time before the new leadership shapes policy decisions in collaboration with other commissioners like Hester Peirce.

A Theory Emerges

In a related note, a social media user has pointed out that if the SEC and Ripple Labs are discussing settling their case with payment in XRP tokens rather than cash, the SEC might prefer delaying the approval of any XRP Spot ETFs until after the settlement.

This is due to the fact that ETF approval would likely increase the price of XRP significantly, potentially affecting the value of any settlement made in XRP. Currently, the case is in abeyance (on hold) as both parties work towards a settlement agreement, with the deadline set for June 10th, 2025—just a week before the new XRP ETF decision date.