XRP news today: CME Group Launches XRP Futures Contracts Amid Growing Demand

CME Group, a leading derivatives marketplace, has announced the launch of new futures contracts based on the payments altcoin XRP. The exchange will introduce two types of XRP-based futures contracts: a micro-sized contract worth 2,500 XRP and a larger-sized contract worth 50,000 XRP. The launch is scheduled for May 19th, pending regulatory review.

Giovanni Vicioso, CME’s global head of crypto products, attributed the new product rollout to the increasing demand from clients for regulated products based on digital assets. He noted that interest in XRP and its underlying ledger (XRPL) has been growing steadily as both institutional and retail adoption of the network increases. The new futures contracts aim to provide a capital-efficient toolset to support clients’ investment and hedging strategies.

This development follows CME Group's previous launches of Bitcoin (BTC) futures in 2020, Ethereum (ETH) futures in 2022, and Solana (SOL)-based contracts in March. The financial services firm’s futures products have also been available on the retail trading platform Robinhood since January. The introduction of XRP futures further expands CME Group's suite of crypto derivatives, catering to the growing interest in digital assets.

XRP, the fourth-ranked crypto asset by market cap, has seen fluctuations in its value. At the time of the announcement, XRP was trading at $2.19, experiencing a slight decrease of more than 1.5% in the past 24 hours but an increase of nearly 6% over the past week. The launch of XRP futures on CME Group is expected to provide institutional investors with a regulated avenue to gain exposure to XRP, potentially influencing its market dynamics.