21Shares is changing the benchmark used to calculate the daily value of its U.S. crypto exchange-traded funds, replacing CME CF reference rates with FTSE digital-asset indices from August 27.
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The change includes the firm’s XRP fund, TOXR, and several related single-asset products. For shareholders, the shares themselves remain unchanged, but the reference price behind each fund’s net asset value will come from a new index provider.
FTSE takes over a crucial piece of ETF infrastructure
Benchmark selection is a technical detail with practical consequences. The index used by an ETF determines how its underlying holdings are valued at the end of each trading day, influencing the net asset value reported to investors.
21Shares had relied on the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, New York Variant, for TOXR. It will instead use the FTSE XRP Index, part of a broader change affecting funds tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin and Polkadot.
The shift follows the end of the firm’s licensing arrangement for the previous benchmark family. CME CF rates remain widely used across U.S. crypto investment products, including some of the largest Bitcoin funds, making 21Shares’ move a notable departure from an established market convention.
Staking labels and fee timing also change
The benchmark update arrives alongside other operational revisions. 21Shares has renamed its Ethereum and Polkadot products to emphasize staking, putting yield generation more visibly at the center of their identities.
The Ethereum fund had already been staking ether, so the revised name appears to formalize an existing feature rather than introduce a new investment strategy. The Bitcoin, XRP and Dogecoin funds retain their current names.
21Shares is also changing how often it collects sponsor fees, moving to at least quarterly collections rather than weekly payments. Fees will continue to be paid using the relevant digital assets held by each fund.
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