XRP ETF Smashes Records: $250M Floods In on Day One, Leaving 2025 Launches in the Dust
Wall Street's latest crypto darling didn't just debut—it detonated. The XRP ETF's opening bell saw a quarter-billion dollar stampede, making other 2025 launches look like garage sale NFTs.
The institutional floodgates are open
Forget 'dipping toes'—asset managers cannonballed into XRP exposure with the subtlety of a Bitcoin maximalist spotting a 'sell' button. The $250M first-day haul suggests either:
1) Rabid demand for regulatory clarity plays, or
2) Hedge funds finally found something shinier than their usual bag of rehypothecated garbage
What the flows really mean
This isn't your 2021 meme-stock frenzy. That $250M represents cold, calculated bets from players who normally wouldn't touch crypto with a 10-foot SEC subpoena. The real story? Traditional finance is building bridges—or at least toll booths—to the digital asset economy.
The cynical take
Let's be real: half these inflows probably came from the same banks that spent years calling XRP 'uninvestable' before realizing they could charge 1.5% management fees on it. Welcome to financial innovation—where yesterday's pariah becomes today's profit center.
In-Kind Creation Made the Launch Stand Out
The in-kind system allows ETF shares to be swapped directly for XRP tokens instead of using only cash. This explains why the fund had higher inflows than its trading volume.
“A few people asking how it’s possible to have ‘only’ $59mil trading volume, but nearly $250mil inflows… The answer? In-kind creations, which don’t show up in trading volume.” ETF expert Nate Geraci wrote in a tweet on X.
Following the launch, “smart money” traders added $44 million in net long XRP positions in the past 24 hours, according to the crypto intelligence platform Nansen. These traders are still betting against Solana, holding $55 million in net short positions on the Hyperliquid exchange.
The ETF opened at $24.55 and ended the day down 7.8% after a volatile session. During that period, the overall crypto markets fell, with total market value dropping 3.5% to $3.43 trillion. Bitcoin went down 3.89%, Ether dropped 3.38%, and Solana lost about 5% to $143. The ETF attracted more inflows than analysts initially projected, with Balchunas noting that he expected $17 million but the fund exceeded that within half an hour.
Retail and institutional Demand Push XRP Higher
Min Jung, senior analyst at Presto in a statement said that “XRP has one of the strongest and most persistent retail communities in crypto… On the institutional side, there has been clear pent-up demand for compliant XRP exposure following Ripple’s regulatory wins.” Lawrence Samantha, CEO of NOBI, added, “If XRPC continues to see steady inflows and creations, it could be a strong sign for how institutions are treating this as a long-term allocation.”
At the time of writing, XRP is trading for $2.32, down 3.71 in the last 24 hours due to the overall market drop.
The ETF also attracted professional investors who previously avoided crypto. A meaningful portion of the early inflows came from liquidity providers managing creation and redemption baskets and traders capturing short-term premiums or discounts.
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