CME’s XRP Futures Attract Almost $30 Million Since Launch, Boosting XRP ETF Expectations

On its first day, XRP futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) achieved a notional trading volume exceeding $19 million and continued with at least $10 million on the following day, according to available data.

The first transaction, a block trade, was processed by Hidden Road on May 18. CME offers two types of XRP futures contracts: the standard size, which represents 50,000 XRP, and micro contracts, which equate to 2,500 XRP. Both contracts are settled in cash and are indexed to the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, updated daily at 15:00 UTC.

On Monday, standard contracts accounted for a trading volume of 7.5 million XRP, while Tuesday saw 2.95 million XRP traded. In terms of micro contracts, volumes were 517,000 XRP on Monday and at least 1.2 million XRP on Tuesday.

Market analysts view the introduction of these regulated futures contracts as a significant step towards the potential acceptance of a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.

Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Store, remarked in a post that the approval of spot XRP ETFs is merely a matter of timing.

Despite the impressive launch of the futures contracts, the spot price of XRP remained stable, hovering around $2.38, with a minor increase of 0.42% observed over the past day.