XRP ETF Debuts with $26M Surge: Is This the Catalyst for XRP’s Next Price Breakout?

The first-ever spot XRP ETF has stormed onto the scene with $26 million in early trading volume—fueling speculation that institutional demand could finally unlock XRP's stagnant price action.

Market watchers are divided: Is this the long-awaited validation of Ripple's digital asset, or just another case of 'buy the rumor, sell the news' in crypto's endless hype cycle?

With XRP still trading 80% below its all-time high, the ETF's performance this week may determine whether it's time for true price discovery... or if bagholders will keep waiting for their 'inevitable' rally.

XRP traded between $2.32 and $2.52 in the past 24 hours, gaining around 3.6%, but failed to deliver the big rally many traders were hoping for. The slow price movement came as Canary Capital’s new XRPC fund, the first-ever U.S. Spot XRP ETF, went live today with powerful early numbers

XRPC Records $26 Million in First 30 Minutes

The launch of Canary Capital’s Spot XRP ETF (XRPC) made an immediate splash. In just the first 30 minutes of trading, XRPC recorded $26 million in volume, far exceeding analyst expectations.

$XRPC at $26m in volume in first 30min, wow, gonna blow away my $17m guess. Has good shot at beating $BSOL's $57m as biggest Day One of any launch this year. pic.twitter.com/UrbHsRYxYV

Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, who initially forecast $17 million, reacted by saying, “Wow, gonna blow away my $17m guess.” He added that XRPC now has a strong chance of surpassing $BSOL’s $57 million to become the biggest Day One ETF launch of the year.

Built for Speed and Global Payments

The ETF is now live on Robinhood and Nasdaq, giving traditional investors direct exposure to the XRP Ledger’s native token. Canary Capital explained that XRPC reflects the XRP network’s performance across global payment and liquidity systems, highlighting its speed, scalability, and proven cross-border utility in distributed finance.

Analysts Split on Full-Day Volume Forecast

Bloomberg’s James Seyffart predicted up to $34 million in total day-one volume, while Balchunas’ revised view suggests it could go much higher. Investors are closely watching to see if XRPC can outshine the debut performance of earlier Bitcoin and ethereum ETFs, which drew strong institutional inflows.

Support Still Strong

Even though the price is not rising fast, XRP is holding steady above $1.21, which is a strong support level. The token recently touched the $1.75 to $2.17 zone and bounced slightly, showing that buyers are still active.

If XRP can rise above $2.84, it could start moving toward $5 over the next few months.

Resistance to Watch

Right now, XRP is facing resistance between $2.69 and $2.84. It needs to MOVE above this range to start a stronger upward trend. Until then, the price is likely to stay flat.