XRP has set a new institutional adoption benchmark by becoming the fastest contract ever to reach $1 billion in open interest on the CME Group's derivatives marketplace. This achievement places XRP futures alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) in CME's "$1B club," a threshold where liquidity deepens and institutional capital begins to shape pricing.
The CME Group, ranked by Forbes as the most trusted crypto exchange globally, announced that its entire crypto futures suite topped $30 billion in notional open interest for the first time. Within this total, BTC futures remain the largest at over $16 billion, while ETH holds $10.5 billion. Both Solana and XRP have crossed the $1 billion mark, but XRP's speed in reaching this milestone has captured industry attention.
Market watcher SonOfaRichard highlighted that reaching $1 billion in open interest signals entry into "the big leagues" for liquidity, as spreads tighten and risk desks begin treating contracts with the same seriousness as BTC and ETH. He added that XRP's rapid climb suggests institutions are allocating significant capital rather than testing the waters, potentially paving the way for deeper derivatives markets and even ETF products.
This achievement comes amid expanding ecosystem development by Ripple, which recently partnered with Gemini to launch an XRP-focused credit card that also integrates its RLUSD stablecoin. This follows Ripple's earlier support for Gemini's IPO plans and represents another step in extending XRP's use cases in payments and tokenization.
Despite the derivatives milestone, XRP's price has struggled to hold above $3. Data shows the asset trading at $2.92, down 0.8% on the day and 3.1% over the past week. The token remains down almost 10% over 30 days, putting it nearly 20% below its July 18 all-time high of $3.65, though it maintains a 390% year-on-year gain.
Technical analysts remain cautious, noting heavy exchange inflows from large holders suggesting ongoing profit-taking that could pressure prices further. Analyst Duo Nine recently flagged a descending triangle pattern and warned that if XRP fails to reclaim $3 convincingly, bears could drive it toward the $2.7 support level.