Breaking: CME to Launch XRP and Solana Futures on February 10

TheChicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is preparing to introduce futures contracts for XRP and Solana (SOL). According to a staging subdomain of the CME Group’s website, the new futures products are set to launch on February 10, pending regulatory approval.

These new contracts will offer traders an opportunity to manage exposure to two prominent cryptocurrencies. It’ll be through regulated and capital-efficient futures products. The futures contracts will be financially settled and available in standard and micro-sized contract options. It’ll allow flexible and precise risk management.

Details of the Solana and XRP Futures Offering

The CME Group’s staging website defined the new products as “regulated, capital-efficient futures” designed for XRP and Solana. Such futures contracts will be Built-in-The-Contract (BTIC) enabled. It will allow for block trades to be made making them suitable for both institutional and the retail investors.

The contracts are intended for those traders who want to open positions in the cryptocurrency market while controlling the risk adequately. They are cash-settled so the traders will not need ownership of the underlying asset.

According to James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, “Looks like CME is expecting to launch SOL & XRP futures on Feb 10”. He also said that the offering is timely since there is increasing demand for regulated cryptocurrency products.

Market Projections for XRP and Solana ETFs

The launch of XRP and Solana futures coincides with other market expectations for potential cryptocurrency Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Geoffrey Kendrick of Standard Chartered predicted that such ETFs could be allowed as early as next year, or at the latest by 2025.

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This week analysts at JPMorgan estimated that if ETFs for Solana and XRP are introduced they could attract as much as $13.6 billion in investments within the next six to twelve months. The classification of Solana as a commodity or a security will be important in regard to the approval of Solana ETF.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said, “We expect a Solana futures ETF will be available on the market by mid-March at the earliest.” But… how much would the demand would there be? I guess we’ll find out.”

Litecoin ETF and Regulatory Environment

In other news, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted that Canary has put in an application for a Litecoin ETF. Seyffart noted that the Litecoin ETF has a higher likelihood of being approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because Litecoin is not a security.

The SEC has not formally approved recent applications for Solana and XRP ETFs to this date. This comes after Nasdaq filed a 19b-4 document for Canary’s Litecoin ETF indicating that market participants are keen to see what the SEC will do with the application.