Coinbase has filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to provide futures contracts for the XRP token issued by Ripple. In the filing, it specifies that the exchange will list the XRP Futures contracts on April 21, 2025.
This addition represents a growth in the exchange’s product offerings with a goal toward maintaining CFTC regulations and market integrity. Position limits for these futures contracts will be at the level of 4,000 contracts for XRP, or 40 million XRP, which is equal to $80 million in notional value, assuming a $2 per XRP price.
Coinbase introduces safeguards for XRP futures
It will be slightly lower than the limit on Bitcoin Futures contracts, which stands at a 0.10% level of Bitcoin’s market cap. Limits for the XRP futures will be 30% lower when compared to the market cap for XRP.
Coinbase will use a MarketVector™ Coinbase XRP Benchmark Rate calculated by averaging prices over 20 three-minute intervals over a one-hour window as the base for preventing the manipulation of the futures market. The exchange makes price manipulation difficult by using a three-minute average. It also enforces strict monitoring to track activity and prevent over-trading, protecting market integrity.
The CFTC requires that the proposed contracts follow key principles, including preventing market disruption, ensuring transparency, and maintaining financial integrity. The contracts will also be subject to position limits and oversight by the exchange’s regulatory departments.
Coinbase sets limits and safeguards for XRP futures
Participants in the marketplace will have access to a daily report of trading volume and price data. Nodal Clear, LLC, a clearing organization that is registered with the CFTC, will clear the futures contracts.
It guarantees that all transactions comply with the requisite regulatory standards for the integrity of finance. It will cooperate closely with Coinbase, Inc., when obtaining spot market data as needed, thereby further reinforcing the capacity to detect suspicious patterns in trading.
It’s a part of a larger pattern of increased institutional interest in using cryptocurrency futures as a hedge against exposure to digital assets. This move by Coinbase, listing the XRP Futures, comes as a sign of greater confidence in the long-term sustainability of the cryptocurrency markets as well as shifting regulation around them.
