The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group has launched XRP futures contracts today, May 19, to expand options for traders and bring more institutional investors into XRP. It has led to speculations around the launch of a spot XRP ETF soon.
These futures are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and come in two sizes: 2,500 XRP tokens for micro contracts and 50,000 tokens for standard contracts. Both are cash-settled and based on the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate. This gives investors a way to trade Ripple Coin without owning it directly.
Nate Geraci, the founder of ETFStore, commented on this with a tweet on X. He said “CME-traded XRP futures are now live… CFTC-regulated contracts on XRP. He also said it’s “only a matter of time.” before “Spot XRP ETFs” get approved. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to approve any spot XRP ETFs.
The SEC is set to decide on Franklin Templeton’s planned spot XRP ETF, called the Franklin XRP Fund, by Thursday, June 17, 2025, which is just a month away. This deadline follows an earlier extension of the SEC’s initial 45-day review period to allow more time for consideration. Despite this, no public comments have been received on the proposal, and many market watchers believe approval this month is unlikely.
On prediction platform Polymarket, bettors also show low confidence in a near-term approval. The market gives only a 35% chance that the ETF will be approved by July 31, but a 84% chance of approval before the end of 2025. Analysts are confident the XRP ETF will gain approval by the final deadline around October 2025.
Meanwhile, this is the first time CME has introduced XRP-based futures. It has previously listed altcoins like Solana. As the demand for crypto-based investment products grows, the exchange is widening its reach in the digital asset space.
The launch also follows a recent XRP ETF rollout in Brazil in April. This shows that Ripple-based investment products are gaining momentum around the world.
However, XRP has not reacted much to the news. At the time of reporting, XRP is trading for $2.34, which is down 3.71% in the past 24 hours. The trading volume is up 73% over the same period to $4.2 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Also Read: Will XRP Become the Most Dominant Cryptocurrency After Bitcoin?
