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Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) gave the green light to the country’s inaugural spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Index Fund, set for trading on the B3 exchange.
The approval, dated February 19, comes amid an 8% surge in XRP value over the past 24 hours.
The fund manager Hashdex, which already offers a suite of crypto ETFs in Brazil—including those for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and various thematic funds like DeFi, Web3, and the metaverse—has yet to announce an official trading commencement date but promised to disclose further information shortly.
The approval of the XRP ETF in Brazil coincides with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) acknowledgment of several spot XRP ETF filings from Nasdaq and Cboe BZX exchanges on behalf of CoinShares, Canary Capital, and WisdomTree.
As a result, XRP prices have witnessed a notable increase, climbing 7.8% to $2.72, now just 20% shy of its all-time high.
In a related development, Braza Group, a significant participant in Brazil’s interbank market, is set to launch a new stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real on the XRP Ledger.
Named BBRL, the stablecoin is backed by Braza Bank, a financial institution specializing in foreign exchange and international payments, though not ranked among Brazil’s top ten banks by assets and deposits. Despite this, the bank is recognized as the country’s largest exchange bank.
Braza Group’s CEO Marcelo Sacomori highlighted the commitment to security and compliance standards with the stablecoin’s upcoming launch, slated for the first quarter of 2025, initially targeting institutional clients before broadening to business-to-consumer segments. Sacomori anticipates that BBRL will secure roughly 30% of the Brazilian market share by the end of the following year.
Furthermore, the Braza Group is actively involved in DREX, a blockchain initiative by the Brazilian central bank, which is examining asset tokenization, cross-border payments, and the potential for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Gabriel Galipolo, the central bank chief of Brazil, recently noted the significant rise in crypto asset usage in the country, particularly stablecoins, which account for about 90% of the crypto flow. He clarified that DREX is not a CBDC project but an infrastructure designed to enhance credit using collateralized assets.
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