In a filing on March 12, the SEC said it needed "a longer period" to consider the proposal. The SEC initially accepted Grayscale's application in January, starting a 45-day review process that can be extended up to 240 days.

The next deadline for a response is May 21, but a final ruling could take until mid-October.

As Grayscale waits for a decision, Franklin Templeton has joined the race for an XRP ETF by submitting its own proposal with the SEC. Franklin XRP ETF seeks to provide exposure to XRP's spot price, with the assets custodied by Coinbase Custody.

Shares for the XRP ETF would trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange after being created and redeemed using cash converted into XRP via a third party. Importantly, investors would not have access to XRP Ledger forks or airdrops.

Franklin Templeton's filing is the latest addition to the growing list of asset managers seeking approval for an XRP ETF, following Bitwise, 21Shares, Canary Capital, WisdomTree, and CoinShares. The SEC has 240 days to evaluate the application and make a decision.

However, analyst Eric Balchunas is not keeping high hopes from the SEC. He posted on X, "This is the 64th alt/meme coin ETF filing that is now awaiting approval, by the way."

The ETF filing process involves both an asset manager and an exchange working together. First, the asset manager (like Franklin Templeton or Grayscale) submits an S-1 (or S-3) registration statement to the SEC, detailing how the ETF will function. At the same time, the exchange (like Cboe BZX or Nasdaq) files a 19b-4 rule change proposal to list and trade the ETF. The SEC then has 45 days to review the exchange’s filing, with the option to extend the deadline up to 240 days for further evaluation before making a final decision.

At press time, XRP trades at $2.20, up by 3.52% in the last day.