Volatility Shares launched the first XRP futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol XRPI. The ETF will indirectly invest in XRP futures through a subsidiary registered in the Cayman Islands, according to SEC filings.
The company said it will invest at least eighty percent of net assets in the form of futures contracts on XRP tokens. This key development opens up new territory for Ripple-associated products in an area previously dominated by Ethereum and Bitcoin investments.
Volatility Shares will also launch a 2x levered XRP futures ETF to provide investors exposure to twice the daily movement in XRP futures. This aggressive fund has a goal of duplicating twice the performance of XRP’s futures, showing strong faith in rising trader demand.
Senior Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas affirmed, “XRPI is releasing the very first official XRP futures ETF ever worldwide. Teucrium, an investment firm from Vermont, already launched a 2x leveraged XRP product trading with good volume in April.
The ETF now has $120 million in assets and has average daily trading of approximately $35 million. This early success indicates increasing interest in XRP-related derivatives from institutional as well as retail investors in the market.
CME launches XRP futures trading first
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has started trading XRP Futures and Micro XRP Futures for the very first time in their history. These regulated products allow for speculation on XRP prices without having to hold the underlying digital asset themselves.
This does not compare at all to spot ETFs, which actually own the asset and people tend to perceive them as more mainstream-friendly instruments. CME’s action lends institutional legitimacy to XRP, as both Bitcoin and Ethereum preceded it on this path.
Analysts see this expanding infrastructure as raising the chances of a future spot XRP ETF approval by the SEC. Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, and Bitwise are now all actively seeking to launch spot XRP ETFs later this year, pending approval.
Optimism is growing under new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, who supports digital assets and differs sharply from Gary Gensler. The leadership of Gensler once halted several altcoin ETFs, but Atkins might be more open in embracing cryptocurrency innovation. Prediction markets such as Polymarket now indicate an 83 percent chance of approval of spot XRP ETF in the next few months.
