CME XRP Futures Explode Past $9B – Could Spot ETF Approval Reverse the 23% Plunge?

XRP futures volume hits staggering $9 billion milestone at CME—just as the token battles a brutal 23% monthly downturn.

The ETF Factor

Traders are betting big that regulatory approval for a spot XRP ETF could flip the script entirely. The surge in institutional derivatives activity suggests smart money is positioning for a potential game-changer—because nothing moves markets faster than Wall Street's sudden affection for an asset it previously ignored.

Market Mechanics at Play

Futures demand doesn't always translate to spot rebounds, but the scale here is undeniable. That $9 billion figure represents serious capital flow—not just retail speculation. If ETF approvals land, the resulting liquidity injection could easily erase recent losses and then some.

Of course, this being crypto, everyone's suddenly an expert on regulatory probabilities—as if predicting the SEC's next move were easier than picking winning lottery numbers.

Key Takeaways 

CME XRP Futures market interest hit a record high. However, with large players slowing down distribution, will XRP rebound? 

Institutional interest in Ripple [XRP] surged to an all-time high ahead of likely U.S. spot ETF approval. 

According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the XRP Futures market reached a record Open Interest of nearly 12 million XRP, equivalent to a cumulative value of $9.02 billion.

Per the exchange, the record demand was a –

“Clear sign of growing conviction in the market”.

Source: X

Overall XRP Futures demand slips

Compared to the rest of the exchanges, CME ranked fourth after Bybit, Binance and Bitget. However, overall demand for XRP Futures has been on a downtrend alongside the price for the past few days. 

Source: CoinGlass

After peaking at about $10 billion in Open Interest in late July, total Futures slumped to $7.3 billion on the 22nd of August. The cool-off has since dragged the altcoin’s value down 23% from $3.6 to $2.8. 

The $2.8 was defended in the previous Q3 pullback. Whether it will hold again remains to be seen. 

That said, as a benchmark for the approval of spot XRP ETF, the CME Futures growth was viewed by market watchers as a vote of confidence and a likely positive outcome for the products. 

XRP vs. LINK

But there’s a cold war between XRP and chainlink [LINK] investors on Crypto Twitter. In fact, a key Chainlink official claimed that Swift was working with the network instead of XRP. 

Interestingly, LINK logged 75% gains over three weeks, outperforming XRP in Q3. This begs the question — Can it outperform XRP in the NEAR term? 

Source: LINK/XRP, TradingView

Still, the outperformance only began recently, as XRP had dominated for most of the past two years.

Whale activity shifts

Meanwhile, two key whale cohorts holding 10 million to 1 billion tokens have eased their offloading, seen in July and early August.

A strong bid from these large players could ease the XRP pullback and trigger a reversal. 

Source: Santiment

Overall, the CME Futures boom was positive for XRP, especially for spot ETF approval. In addition, whales have eased their sell-off, raising hope for a potential recovery if they begin bidding strongly again.