Briefly,
- CME Group said Thursday it would launch XRP derivatives on their marketplace.
- Clients will have the option to purchase contracts for 2,500 and 50,000 XRP.
- By market cap, XRP is the 4th largest cryptocurrency.
CME Group said Thursday it will launch XRP Futures for its customers on the derivatives market on May 19.
Clients will be able to choose between a smaller contract size of 2,500XRP and a bigger contract size of 50,000XRP.
"As innovation in the digital asset landscape continues to evolve, market participants continue to look to regulated derivatives products to manage risks across a wider range of tokens," Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group's global head of cryptocurrency products, said in a statement. "Interest in XRP and its underlying ledger (XRPL) has steadily increased as institutional and retail adoption for the network grows, and we are pleased to launch these new futures contracts… to support clients' investment and hedging strategies."
XRP, with a capitalization of $126.6 Billion is the 4th largest cryptocurrency. According to CoinGecko, it was trading at $2.19 a coin following a drop of 4% in 24 hours. The price has increased by over 9% in the last fourteen days as a part of a larger market rally.
The founders behind the fintech company Ripple created the coin with the goal of making money transfers across countries faster and more efficient.
"XRP was purpose-built for real financial use cases and today facilitates global value transfers through the fast, low-cost XRP Ledger," Sal GilbertieTeucrium’s CEO, Paul Teucrium said this in a press release. "The listing of regulated XRP futures by CME Group marks another milestone in the ecosystem's evolution, and we intend to be active participants in supporting that growth."
CME Group is the world's biggest derivative marketplace. Futures is a contract that allows an investor the option to buy or sale the underlying assets at a certain price on a specific date.
Market offers Bitcoin You can also find out more about the following: Ethereum futures.
Decrypt CME Group was contacted for further comment.
Update (April 24, 10:32 am ET) ET): Adds XRP prices and comments.
James Rubin, Editor
