Derivatives traders aggressively bet on XRP's XRP/USD price increase amid the announcement of the coin's futures contracts on CME Group Inc. CME on Thursday.

What happened: More than 70.73% of traders on Binance with an open XRP position were positioned long, up from 67.57% a week ago, according to Coinglass.

It indicated that the number of individuals holding long positions in XRP was 2.42 times higher than those holding short positions.

Bullish expectations were also high among the top 20% of traders with the highest margin balance, with approximately 69.43% betting on XRP’s rally.

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The Open Interest in XRP futures fell 1.74% in the last 24 hours but was up nearly 23% over the week, signaling a jump in leverage and speculative demand.

Why It Matters: The move comes as leading derivatives marketplace CME Group announced an XRP futures offering, allowing investors to profit from the coin’s volatility without directly holding it.

Traders will have access to two contract sizes: a micro contract (2,500 XRP) and a standard contract (50,000 XRP), and they will be cash-settled.

The buzz around investment vehicles seeking exposure to XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, has soared since Ripple Labs and the SEC agreed to a final resolution of their lengthy legal feud.

As of this writing, the odds of an XRP exchange-traded fund approval in 2025 were 71% on Polymarket. Investment giants like Grayscale Investments, Franklin Templeton, and WisdomTree have filed applications with the SEC to launch XRP ETFs.

Price Action: At the time of writing, XRP was exchanging hands at $2.17, down 1.15% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Shares of CME Group rose 1.17% in after-hours trading after closing 0.68% higher at $263.27 during Thursday’s regular session.

As of this writing, the CME stock has a high momentum score but a lower valuation. To check how your favorite stocks fare on these parameters, click on Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings.

Photo: alfernec/shutterstock

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