XRP Futures Explode Onto Scene with $19M Debut—Spot ETF Hype Next?

Ripple’s XRP futures market just kicked off with a roaring $19 million in trading volume—proof that crypto traders still love a good legal gray area. Now the real question: when do the Wall Street suits start clamoring for a spot ETF to ’democratize access’ (read: skim fees)?

Futures launch proves demand. But let’s be real—half those trades were probably degens overleveraging before brunch. The infrastructure’s there now. Cue the SEC foot-dragging.

Prediction: BlackRock files for XRP ETF within 6 months. Because nothing screams ’regulatory clarity’ like a fund manager spotting an arbitrage opportunity.

XRP outshines SOL 

For comparison, the SOL CME Futures debuted on the 17th of March and attracted $12.1 million in volume. In other separate launches, BTC tapped $102.7M, while ETH managed $31M. 

This meant XRP outpaced SOL by over $7 million and mirrored the current top crypto assets by market cap. 

That said, the Futures products make it easy for institutions to speculate and adopt hedging strategies on XRP, deepening market liquidity.  

But the milestone may be a step towards another goal — U.S. Spot ETF approval.

According to ETF Stores’ Nate Geraci, ETF approval was a ‘matter of time’ after the CME Futures went live.

Notably, the U.S. Spot BTC and ETH ETFs were launched after hitting CME Futures.  

Since the CME announced its XRP Futures plan in April, U.S. Spot XRP ETF approval odds have jumped by over 10% from 63% to 83%, Polymarket data showed. 

Despite topping SOL, XRP’s Futures launch didn’t strongly spice up speculative interest. Unsurprisingly, it mirrored the broader market cool-off after the April-May recovery pump. 

Since mid-May, XRP’s Open Interest rate (OI), or money parked in the XRP derivatives markets, has dropped from $5.5 billion to $4.5B at press time. That meant short-term bearish sentiment. 

Source: CoinGlass 

Interestingly, BTC dominance jumped 3.6% from mid-May, from 62% to over 64% after a sharp drop in early May.

The BTC dominance recovery meant altcoins like XRP were temporarily sidelined again unless capital flowed from BTC.  

On the price chart, the stubborn BTC dominance meant that the $2.6 resistance may block XRP bulls in the short term. However, bulls still had leverage provided they held above the trendline support. 

Source: XRP/USDT, TradingView