SOL, XRP, LTC ETF Approvals Loom Under Donald Trump Presidency? Potential Timelines Explained

• Multi-crypto ETF applications are being filed with the U.S. SEC.
• Staking in spot Ethereum ETFs could be enabled under the next administration.
• Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs command over $112 billion in combined assets.

With Donald Trump returning as the 47th U.S. President, he’s got a lot of pro-crypto promises to follow through on, but could this see a wave of Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals?

Looking to 2025

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, new crypto ETFs are on the way and may vary in shape and size, though they may not occur until late 2025.

Though Trump may be the next U.S. President, altcoin ETFs still have hurdles to overcome before being considered for spot ETFs. Notably, he explains that the SEC has denied altcoin applications due to their lack of (long-term) presence in CME-regulated markets.

Multi-crypto ETFs are also in the works ; as Seyffart notes, “Hashdex has a filing out there to hold Bitcoin and Ethereum in an ETF wrapper.”

Seyffart notes that one of the things he anticipates is a big change to Ethereum ETFs. He’s confident that under the next U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administration, they’ll allow staking, which wasn’t possible under Gary Gensler.

The SEC

Only one authority in the U.S. can determine whether an ETF—of any sort—can be launched, and that’s the U.S. SEC, headed up by the crypto community’s least favorite politician, Gary Gensler, who has just stepped down from the position.

Gensler has taken the crypto industry to task over his tenure, sweeping the sector with dozens of enforcement actions, billions in penalties, fines, and criminal convictions.

That’s not to say that Gensler undoubtedly brought many criminal cases to justice, but his unwavering position on what constitutes security has seen the agency in years-long tussles with Ripple, Coinbase, Uniswap, and others.

Ultimately, the SEC approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., which have gone on to be a resounding success, commanding tens of billions worth of BTC and ETH and essentially propping up the crypto market throughout 2024.

Crypto ETFs

However, the SEC has put some altcoin ETF aspirations in limbo, with multiple lawsuits against crypto exchanges for selling unregistered securities such as SOL and XRP and direct legal battles with Ripple.

In order to approve a SOL ETF, for example, the SEC would have to reverse its lawsuits against multiple crypto exchanges in which it names SOL as an unregistered security.

That said, any asset or commodity must meet certain conditions. An asset needs to be traded as a future commodity product for at least 18 to 24 months before the SEC can consider approving it as a spot product.

As Gensler noted when he approved spot ETH ETFs, Ethereum products traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for over three years. This helps regulators asses the market risk and the underlying asset/product/technology in greater depth as they can track its performance over at least two years.

Litecoin ETF Most Likely

Litecoin is perhaps the most likely of the three to see its ETF application approved.

First, Gensler does not view LTC as a security. That’s a huge barrier cleared regardless of whether he resumes his post as the SEC under Trump—which is unlikely.

Thanks to this, there are no legal and regulatory hurdles to overcome.

Secondly, Litecoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) have been offered on traditional exchanges for years.

For example, major investment fund Grayscale currently commands an impressive $129 million LTC fund that has been trading since 2020.

A spot LTC ETF could pave the way for a spot XRP ETF sooner than a SOL-backed fund.

The legal battle between XRP and the SEC remains ongoing, so a sudden approval of an XRP ETF soon after the SEC’s courtroom loss may be too tough a pill to swallow.

The same logic would then apply to SOL.

Incoming U.S. President Trump has vowed to fire Gary Gensler and bring an end to unfair litigation against the crypto industry.

Ultimately, altcoin ETF approvals could come sooner than expected.