The Canary XRP ETF (XRPC), the first XRP spot ETF in US history, began trading on Nasdaq today.
While the trading volume in the first hour of the launch exceeded expectations, industry analysts evaluated the performance and potential of the ETF.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described XRPC’s launch performance as “phenomenal.” Balchunas noted that the ETF reached $26 million in trading volume in the first 30 minutes after its launch, adding:
“XRPC reached $26 million in volume in the first 30 minutes, incredible. It looks set to exceed my $17 million estimate by a wide margin. It has a chance to surpass the $57 million first-day volume record set by BSOL (Solana ETF) among ETFs launched this year.”
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan argued that ETF success isn’t solely dependent on the overall market sentiment for the asset. Hougan highlighted the behavioral dynamics of ETF investors, saying:
“The median opinion of a cryptocurrency doesn’t determine ETF success. It’s better for 20% of people to love an asset than 80% to say it’s ‘not bad.’ ETFs die from apathy, not dissent.”
In its launch announcement, Canary Capital, the ETF’s issuer, stated that XRPC is designed to mirror the core features of the XRP Ledger for investors. The statement highlighted the following elements:
- Direct exposure to XRP Ledger’s native token, XRP
- Structure that monitors the performance of payment and liquidity protocols
- Established use case in cross-border value transfer
- Speed, efficiency and scalability suitable for the distributed finance ecosystem
*This is not investment advice.