XRP Futures $1 Billion OI Milestone Paves Way for Spot XRP ETF Approval

Key Notes

The milestone reflects tighter spreads, greater attention from risk desks, and pricing behavior similar to major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Analysts believe that this milestone in XRP futures could be a stepping stone for the approval of spot XRP ETF.
The SEC has set October 24 as the next decision date for pending spot XRP ETFs.

Despite Ripple-related cryptocurrency facing constant selling pressures, the XRP futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have crossed $1 billion in open interest, making it the fastest-growing futures on the platform. Interestingly, XRP futures have hit this milestone just within three months of launch.

XRP Futures Hit an Important Milestone as Institutional Interest Surges

XRP futures hit the $1 billion liquidity threshold, a level often viewed as a benchmark for institutional engagement. This signals tighter spreads, increased attention from risk desks, and pricing behavior comparable to major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as per the CME Group data.

Our Crypto futures suite just surpassed $30B in notional open interest for the first time ever. ?
Our SOL and XRP futures, along with ETH options, each crossed $1B in OI, with XRP being the fastest-ever contract to do so, hitting the mark in just over 3 months.?
This is a… pic.twitter.com/xXV9TyP61O
— CME Group (@CMEGroup) August 25, 2025

Analysts note the speed of this move is significant, suggesting that large funds are allocating meaningful capital to XRP. This milestone comes even as XRP price has been under selling pressure, amid the BTC correction.

Historically, growth in futures depth is followed by options market expansion and eventually leads to spot ETF traction. Previously, we have seen this with Ethereum , and now appearing with XRP.

Related article: Canary Capital Files S-1 for First “American-Made” Crypto ETF

The development coincides with Ripple’s rollout of RLUSD, its dollar-backed stablecoin, and efforts to build tokenization infrastructure on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), laying the groundwork for broader institutional adoption.

Will the US SEC Approve the XRP ETF by the end of October?

Last week, issuers including CoinShares, Canary Capital, WisdomTree, Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, Grayscale, and Bitwise submitted their amended S-1 application for a spot XRP ETF.

However, on Monday, Aug. 25, the US SEC delayed the decision for approval for WisdomTree and Canary Capital, further to October end. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has scheduled Oct. 24 as the next decision date for pending spot XRP ETF applications, with the exception of Franklin Templeton’s filing. Franklin Templeton’s application remains on a separate timeline, with its third review deadline in September and a potential final decision expected in November.

The first final deadline for spot XRP ETF approvals is Oct. 18, when the SEC is set to rule on Grayscale’s filing. Additional decisions for other applications shall come soon after. Analysts suggest the SEC could approve all pending XRP ETFs simultaneously, similar to its approach with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs earlier this year.