Despite the regulatory stagnation, institutional adoption is expanding through CME’s XRP derivatives and corporate treasury holdings.
XRP’s first US exchange-traded fund (ETF) has crossed a significant milestone. It reached more than $100 million in assets under management (AUM) barely a month after launch.
On October 24, REX-Osprey confirmed that its XRPR product surpassed the mark, signaling strong institutional appetite for regulated exposure to the digital asset.
The fund, launched in September, offers direct spot access to XRP and has quickly attracted investors seeking compliant avenues to diversify their portfolios.
Its growth highlights not just speculative enthusiasm but also a more profound structural shift, which shows that digital assets are becoming integrated into the core machinery of global finance.
Meanwhile, this milestone arrives at a delicate regulatory moment.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to rule on several pending spot XRP ETF applications.
At least six filings recently reached their review deadlines without updates, largely due to the agency’s reduced operations since the October 1 federal government shutdown.
This delay has effectively frozen progress on ETF approvals, leaving market participants to gauge institutional sentiment through existing products like XRPR.
However, even with regulatory inertia, institutional activity around XRP continues to expand.
CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, recently introduced XRP options after a strong uptake of its XRP futures contracts.
The exchange reported over 567,000 futures contracts traded to date. This is equivalent to roughly $26.9 billion in notional volume or about 9 billion XRP tokens.
CME said client demand for the new options product grew organically as traders sought to hedge volatility and broaden exposure.
Interestingly, that momentum extends beyond the derivatives market, with prominent crypto traders and institutions accumulating XRP.
Prominent crypto trader James Wynn recently disclosed plans to allocate a “significant portion” of his portfolio to XRP. He said the token has the potential to modernize global banking infrastructure.
“I believe it could revolutionize the banking systems. It’s a gamble, as all investments are,” he wrote.
Evernorth, a new treasury firm branded the “MicroStrategy of XRP,” has pledged to hold the token as a core balance-sheet asset. Its shares are expected to trade on Nasdaq, a move that underscores the tightening link between digital liquidity and traditional markets.
Meanwhile, other firms, including VivoPower International, Trident Digital Tech Holdings, and Webus, have also quietly accumulated XRP.
At the same time, Ripple continues to build aggressively around the token.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted the firm’s ongoing acquisition strategy, which includes GTreasury, Rail, Standard Custody, and Metaco. He stated that these efforts are designed to expand Ripple’s cross-border settlement and liquidity network.
“As we continue to build solutions towards enabling an Internet of Value – I’m reminding you all that XRP sits at the center of everything Ripple does,” Garlinghouse said.
Collectively, these developments mark XRP’s transformation from a speculative trade to a maturing institutional asset that bridges traditional finance with blockchain-driven liquidity networks.
