Volatility Shares launched the first-of-its-kind XRP futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) on May 22. The ETF will invest at least 80% of the value of its net assets in XRP-linked instruments and trade under the ticker XRPI on Nasdaq. On its debut, the fund opened at $15.88 and closed at $15.81.
The ETF will indirectly invest in XRP futures through a wholly-owned subsidiary based in the Cayman Islands. It will carry a net expense ratio of 0.94%. Volatility Shares is also working on a second product, a leveraged 2x XRP futures ETF. The 2x XRP futures ETF offers twice the daily price appreciation of XRP through twice-leveraged exposure to XRP futures. This will compete with Teucrium Investment Advisors’ 2x XRP futures ETF (XXRP), which launched on April 8.
The launches of these futures ETFs tied to XRP have ignited hopes for the many XRP spot ETFs that are still awaiting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval. There has been no action taken on these applications yet. Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, and Bitwise are among the prominent asset management companies competing to launch spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
XRP is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the world and currently trades at $2.45 at the time of reporting, up 1.6% in the last 24 hours. The price movement for XRP over the past month has disappointed investors, especially when compared to other coins like Ethereum, solana and others that have managed to pull off 40-60% gains over the past month, XRP returns stand at a modest 15% only.