SEC approves April 30 launch for ProShares’ leveraged, short XRP futures ETFs

ProShares will launch three futures-based ETFs that track the price of XRP on April 30, according to a filing with the SEC seen by Cryptopolitan.

The three products are called the Ultra XRP ETF, the Short XRP ETF, and the Ultra Short XRP ETF. Each offers different exposure to XRP price movements, with the Ultra XRP ETF giving 2x leverage, the Short XRP ETF betting against XRP price, and the Ultra Short XRP ETF offering -2x leverage.

These ETFs were first proposed in January and finally got a green light after the SEC declined to object during the review window.

These three ProShares funds will become the second, third, and fourth XRP-tracking ETFs available in the U.S. market. However, ProShares is still waiting on SEC approval for its spot XRP ETF application, which is stuck alongside other similar proposals from Grayscale, 21Shares, and Bitwise, according to The Block’s ETF Tracker.

Earlier this month, Teucrium Investment Advisors LLC, a firm based in Vermont, beat everyone to it by launching the first XRP futures ETF in the United States. Teucrium’s ETF offers leveraged exposure to XRP without actually holding the token.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, posted on X that, “Very odd (maybe a first) that a new asset’s first ETF is leveraged. Spot XRP still not approved, [although] our odds are pretty high.”

CME Group to add XRP futures as ProShares launches ETFs

Shortly after the ProShares news, CME Group, the largest derivatives exchange in the United States, announced plans to add XRP futures to its offerings. CME already lists futures contracts for BTC, ETH, and SOL, and XRP will now join that lineup if everything goes as planned. This move happens under an environment where, under President Donald Trump’s leadership, regulators like the CFTC and the SEC have taken a much less aggressive stance toward the crypto industry.

CME said it would introduce two types of XRP futures contracts: a micro-sized contract tied to 2,500 XRP, and a larger one tied to 50,000 XRP. Both will be settled in cash and calculated using the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, which is updated once a day at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Current market data shows XRP trading around $2, up about 1% over the last 24 hours, based on numbers from CoinGecko. If CME’s addition goes through, XRP would become the fourth cryptocurrency available for futures trading on the platform, joining BTC, ETH, and SOL.

The decision to include XRP isn’t random. The fourth-largest crypto now has a market cap of over $127 billion, making it the fourth-largest token on the market.

Its backer, Ripple, has a heavy lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., constantly pushing for regulatory frameworks that favor blockchain development.

Ripple’s aggressive push for XRP adoption, however, hasn’t always sat well with the wider crypto community. The so-called XRP Army has sometimes launched antagonistic campaigns against other blockchain projects to further its own cause.

Ripple has also slammed Bitcoin’s energy-heavy proof-of-work system, pitching XRP as a cleaner, more sustainable option instead.

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