CME launches XRP futures, price still shows weakness

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched the long-awaited XRP futures trading, potentially paving the way for ETF activity. Despite the milestone, XRP market prices remained weak. 

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched the live trading of its long-awaited XRP futures. The contract started trading on May 19, with still limited volumes. Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO and co-founder of Ripple, announced the launch as an institutional milestone for XRP. 

The launch of regulated XRP Futures on @CMEGroup marks a key institutional milestone for XRP…and very excited to report that Hidden Road cleared the first block trade on CME at the opening! https://t.co/Njj8AUSY5K

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 19, 2025

Hidden Road, the recently acquired brokerage, was among the first CME traders to trade a package of XRP in the first hours of futures trading.

XRP traded at $2.35 after the launch, matching the market price for the past day. The asset is down by 3.2% in the past day, erasing 8% in the past week to become one of the weak performers among blue chip assets. 

The CME announced the futures contract launch in a document from April 24, joining the company’s futures markets for BTC, ETH, and SOL. 

CME offers cash-settled XRP futures

The new contract is regulated by the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for transparent and efficient contracts. The contracts are settled based on the CME CF XRP-Dollar reference rate. 

The futures trade in 50,000 XRP units and are cash-settled. Traders will also have the small-contract version containing 2,500 XRP. The futures will be quoted in six consecutive monthly contracts, four quarterly contracts, and a second December settlement contract.

The XRP futures settle at 4:00 PM London time on the last Friday of the contract month or the business day prior if the expiration day is a bank holiday.

This means the contract bets on XRP price fluctuations, but no XRP is bought and used. Previous futures market launches did not generate additional crypto demand but became a part of price discovery, gauging sentiment and showing potential price moves on crypto exchanges. 

XRP still awaits a decision on 19 filings for an ETF launch, aiming to become a part of mainstream portfolios. The futures market will gauge mainstream institutional demand and point toward the success of an eventual ETF. 

XRP showed price weakness ahead of futures launch

The futures launched just as XRP hype was diminishing. Since May 14, open interest for the asset fell from $2.6B down to $2B on a series of liquidations. XRP traders still hold predominantly long positions due to fears of a short squeeze. Despite this, in the past 12 hours, over $12.4M were liquidated from XRP long positions. 

As usual, XRP is met with a mix of skepticism and irrational optimism, allowing for a rally as high as $10. XRP still has no clear utility, and Ripple has branched into other activities, including oracles and fintech. However, the asset has earned its spot among traders as an asset with reliable and liquid listings.

Despite the milestone, XRP has not rallied as expected. The price still faced pressure from the still-unsettled lawsuit that is clearing out the last technicalities, though the central verdict that XRP is not a security is not disputed.

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