CME’s Share of XRP Futures Climbs to 17% From 10% as Token Jumps 40%

XRP has jumped about 40% recently, while the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has rapidly expanded its share of the token’s futures market.

CoinDesk, citing CoinGlass data, reported on September 1 that total open interest in XRP futures fell 16% to about 2.34 billion XRP on August 31 from 2.77 billion XRP on August 17. Over the same period, XRP rose about 40% to $1.38 from roughly $0.99.

The figures suggest leveraged positions shrank across the broader market even as open interest on CME increased, signaling broader participation by institutional investors.

Open interest in CME XRP futures rose about 36% to 387 million XRP from 284 million XRP over the same period. As a result, CME’s share of the overall XRP futures market increased to 17% from about 10%.

Because CME is a regulated US futures market used mainly by professional trading firms and asset managers, its growing share could signal rising institutional participation in the XRP futures market, CoinDesk said.

Institutional positioning, however, has not turned uniformly bullish. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed that, as of August 25, leveraged funds held net short positions of about 116 million XRP in XRP futures. Dealers and asset managers, by contrast, increased net long positions of about 60 million XRP and 28 million XRP, respectively.

The market is also watching a Senate procedural vote on the CLARITY Act, a US crypto market-structure bill expected in mid-September, as a key variable for XRP’s price.