Coinbase Is Preparing to Launch XRP Futures, Accelerating Institutional Access and Signaling Surging Confidence

Crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) shared on social media platform X on April 3 that its derivatives unit has officially filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to self-certify a futures contract tied to XRP.

Coinbase is preparing to launch futures on the cryptocurrency XRP, in a move that will accelerate institutional access to the asset and signals surging confidence as U.S. markets massively deploy regulated, liquid crypto derivatives.

Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) shared via social media platform X on April 3 that its derivatives unit has officially filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to self-certify a futures contract tied to XRP. Coinbase Institutional stated:

“We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures – bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets. We anticipate the contract going live on April 21, 2025.”

The nano XRP Futures contract will be offered for trading on Coinbase Derivatives and cleared through Nodal Clear, according to the filing submitted to the Commission.

Each futures contract will represent 500 XRP and will be priced using the Marketvector Coinbase XRP Benchmark Rate. The exchange will list the three nearest monthly expirations and enforce a 10% hourly price fluctuation limit to control excessive market swings. Final settlement will rely on a volume-weighted median price across a one-hour window, with manual adjustments allowed if abnormal activity is detected. Position limits are capped at 4,000 contracts, equivalent to 40 million XRP or approximately 0.07% of XRP’s current market cap.

The exchange noted it has received no substantive opposition to the launch and has already engaged with market participants and futures commission merchants.

Coinbase’s move follows Bitnomial Exchange’s introduction of the first CFTC-regulated XRP futures on March 20. Bitnomial’s contracts are physically settled and directly tied to XRP’s underlying supply and demand. Bitnomial also dropped its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), citing a more favorable regulatory landscape.

In parallel, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has voiced renewed optimism about XRP’s prospects. He stated XRP may be included in a government-managed crypto reserve and expressed confidence that the SEC will approve spot XRP ETFs. Garlinghouse said the SEC’s earlier position had negatively impacted XRP but noted a more favorable regulatory environment following the agency’s decision to drop its appeal in the case against Ripple.