RBC Discloses XRP ETF Position in SEC Filing

Canada’s largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada, has officially disclosed a position in the Bitwise XRP ETF through a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing shows RBC owns approximately 2,000 shares of the ETF, valued at roughly $30,000. While this amount is modest compared to RBC’s total portfolio of about $570 billion, the move is significant because it marks the first time a top-five Canadian bank has publicly reported holding an XRP-linked investment vehicle.

What the 13F Filing Actually Shows

13F filings are quarterly disclosures required by the SEC for institutional investment managers with over $100 million in qualifying assets. RBC’s filing confirms ownership of 2,000 shares in the Bitwise XRP ETF, which has a CUSIP number of 09174F107 and was valued at approximately $30,000. The Bitwise XRP ETF launched in November 2025 and holds physical XRP as its primary asset. This structure gives institutions regulated exposure to XRP without needing to directly custody the underlying token.

The size of the position is small, and that seems intentional. Institutional behavior often follows a pattern where small initial positions help establish the regulatory and compliance groundwork for a new asset class before larger capital deployments occur. We saw a similar pattern with Bitcoin ETF positions from major banks in early 2024, many of which grew significantly in subsequent quarters.

RBC and Ripple Have History

What makes this disclosure particularly notable is RBC’s existing relationship with Ripple’s technology. RBC was a founding member of the Global Payments Steering Group, a committee created to develop rules and governance around using Ripple’s technology for global payments. Other founding members included Santander, UniCredit, Standard Chartered, Westpac, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

An RBC research report had previously documented the bank’s own analysis of XRP’s utility. The report stated that “Ripple, with or without XRP, can save banks an average of 46% per payment.” It also identified XRP’s role as a bridge asset that allows banks to consolidate liquidity into a single account, rather than holding local currency reserves across multiple jurisdictions. So RBC is not discovering XRP through the Bitwise ETF. It has studied the technology for years. The 13F filing represents the first time that institutional conviction has translated into a publicly disclosed investment position.

What This Means for Investors and Developers

For those tracking the Bitwise XRP ETF price and ETF inflows, RBC’s filing adds institutional name recognition to the product’s holder base. The cumulative effect of major financial institutions establishing initial ETF positions, however small, builds the compliance and familiarity infrastructure that larger allocations require.

For XRP investors, the pattern mirrors early Bitcoin ETF institutional adoption. First came the toe-in-the-water 13F disclosures. Then came the real deployments. RBC is now on record as an XRP ETF holder, combined with its founding membership in Ripple’s global payments governance body. This suggests the relationship has considerable room to develop. The $30,000 position is likely not the destination. It looks more like the starting line.

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