Farmers & Merchants Just Sprinkled $30K of XRP Into a $4.1B Portfolio 🌾

Farmers & Merchants Investments, a bank holding company with $4.1 billion in assets under management, disclosed a new position in the Bitwise XRP ETF in its latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investment manager reported holding 2,374 shares of the Bitwise XRP ETF, valued at roughly $30,000, signaling continued crypto exposure alongside its traditional holdings.

The same filing revealed additional crypto-adjacent positions, including shares of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, and holdings in Robinhood stock. The disclosure comes amid rising institutional interest in XRP, driven in part by recent spot XRP ETF inflows and the asset's expanding legal clarity in the United States.

While the XRP ETF position represents a small portion of the firm's overall portfolio, the filing adds Farmers & Merchants to a growing list of registered investment advisers and bank-affiliated managers reporting direct or indirect exposure to spot cryptocurrency products. Industry analysts have noted that such filings, even at modest sizes, are being closely tracked as indicators of broader institutional appetite for digital asset investment vehicles.

The disclosure follows a wave of similar 13F filings from US firms over recent quarters, as regulators have cleared additional spot crypto ETFs for trading on major US exchanges. Ripple, the issuer associated with XRP, has continued to expand its roster of institutional partners throughout the year, though the company has not commented on individual portfolio disclosures.

Per the filing, Farmers & Merchants Investments' reported positions include the Bitwise XRP ETF, BlackRock's IBIT, and Robinhood stock, with no additional cryptocurrency products specified in the document.