April 24 (Reuters) - CME Group CME.O will launch futures contracts tied to the XRP cryptocurrency next month, the derivatives exchange said on Thursday, aiming to tap into the growing interest in tokens other than bitcoin and ether.

The cash-settled futures are set to launch on May 19, pending regulators' approval.

Futures contracts let traders bet on or hedge against the future price movements of an asset, without owning it.

CME's move highlights a push to offer sophisticated trading tools for altcoins — which typically refer to tokens smaller than bitcoin and ether — and reflects their growing maturity.

Initially viewed as speculative assets, these coins are fast becoming a vital component of investors' portfolios. According to analysts, they can be a safe haven at a time when tariff-driven volatility has rattled equities.

XRP XRP= has gained 5.3% so far this year, while bitcoin BTC= is marginally down and ether ETH= has lost about half of its value. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index has fallen 8.6% during the period.

"Market participants continue to look to regulated derivatives products to manage risks across a wider range of tokens," said Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME.

Last month, CME also rolled out futures related to solana, another major crypto token. Both solana and XRP have attracted a wave of institutional interest in recent months, with asset managers filing for exchange-traded funds tied to the tokens.

The new products could help CME strengthen its presence in the retail trading space, an area it has been focusing on, especially through its partnership with online trading platform Robinhood HOOD.O.

XRP is the native token of crypto firm Ripple Labs, which last month settled a civil lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged sale of unregistered securities.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com))