Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart announced on April 28 that ProShares’ XRP futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will not begin trading on April 30.
Although the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the ETFs, Seyffart clarified that they have not yet set a confirmed launch date, but expect the products to begin trading in the short to medium term.
The ProShares XRP futures ETFs target institutional investors seeking a regulated way to speculate on XRP’s price volatility.
Futures-based ETFs offer an alternative investment vehicle, eliminating the need for direct custody of digital assets and addressing regulatory, security, and operational concerns typically associated with holding digital assets directly.
Approval Granted for Launch of XRP Futures
ProShares has secured SEC approval to launch three XRP futures-based ETFs: first, the Ultra XRP ETF with 2x leverage; second, the Short XRP ETF with -1x inverse exposure; and finally, the Ultra Short XRP ETF with -2x inverse exposure.
According to SEC filings, the regulator finalized the approval earlier this year during a period of increased momentum in crypto-related financial products.
The US will approve these ProShares ETFs as the second, third, and fourth XRP-related ETFs. Teucrium launched the first XRP futures ETF on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 8, reporting positive initial trading volumes.
ProShares holds a pending application for a spot XRP ETF with the SEC, along with seven other similar applications. Authorities set a second deadline for late May for most of the filings after the SEC missed the first deadline in April without making a decision.
Authorities set a final deadline of mid-October for some filings, including Grayscale’s conversion requirement and the 21shares proposal.
A prediction made by JPMorgan in January estimates that net inflows into XRP exchange-traded products (ETPs) could reach between $4 billion and $8 billion, based on the track record of ETFs exposed to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
