BizwavemediaPersonal Finance and Crypto Updates

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ProShares, the top issuer of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds, may debut three futures ETFs tied to XRP, Ripple’s native crypto asset, as soon as April 30, according to a post-effective amended prospectus filed on April 15.

The proposed products include the Short XRP ETF, offering investors the opportunity to profit from declines in the price of XRP; the Ultra XRP ETF, delivering approximately twice the daily return of XRP’s price movements; and the UltraShort XRP ETF, aimed at providing approximately twice the inverse (-2x) of XRP’s daily performance.

ProShares, which initially filed for its XRP futures ETFs in January, stated in the April prospectus that its filing is expected to become effective on Wednesday, April 30.

The filing was made under a procedural mechanism that permits the products to launch without requiring further substantive review or explicit reapproval from the SEC, provided no objections are raised before the effective date.

However, while the amendment would allow the funds to become effective on that date, actual trading may not begin immediately, depending on exchange readiness and other operational factors.

Once the debut is confirmed, ProShares’ XRP futures ETFs will join Teucrium Investment Advisors, the first fund manager to launch a US-listed XRP ETF.

Teucrium’s fund, called the 2x Long Daily XRP ETF, aims to deliver returns that are double the daily return of XRP through swap agreements.

Teucrium’s launch came amid increasing investor demand for XRP following Donald Trump’s election victory, which directly contributed to a wave of regulatory developments favorable to the crypto industry, including the legal outcome between Ripple Labs and the SEC.

Pending spot XRP ETF decision

The SEC has delayed its decision on multiple spot XRP ETF applications, including those from major firms like Grayscale, Bitwise, and WisdomTree.

However, the delay is viewed as a normal part of the agency’s review process for crypto spot ETFs — not limited to XRP-linked products. Other ETFs tied to altcoins such as Solana, Dogecoin, and Litecoin are also currently pending.

ETF experts remain optimistic that the SEC will greenlight spot crypto ETFs as soon as this year, with Litecoin ETFs possibly being the first to receive approval.

Analysts’ confidence in XRP ETF approval has also grown, particularly following Paul Atkins’ appointment as SEC Chairman.

Earlier this week, CME Group announced plans to launch XRP futures, signaling a move towards potential spot ETF approval after the legal battle between the SEC and Ripple Labs officially concludes.

XRP is trading around $2.27, up nearly 9% over the past week, per TradingView.

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The world’s first ETF that tracks the spot price of XRP, Ripple’s native crypto asset, officially debuted on Brazil’s main stock exchange B3 on April 25, according to a press release from Valor Econômico.

The fund, dubbed Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Fundo de Índice, or Hashdex Nasdaq XRP FI, is managed by Hashdex and administered by Genial Investments Securities Brokerage SA. Genial Bank SA is the ETF’s custodian.

The global asset manager secured greenlight from Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) to launch the XRP-tied fund in February. The approval came after the securities regulator approved Hashdex’s spot Solana ETF last August.

Following regulatory approval, the fund entered into a pre-operational phase. During this phase, it was not yet actively trading but was undergoing preparatory steps.

The ETF, now trading on B3 under the ticker XRPH11, replicates the XRP Reference Price Index (NQXRP), which tracks the spot price of XRP across major crypto exchanges, according to the fund’s documents.

The fund will invest at least 95% of its net assets in XRP and related digital assets, securities, or futures contracts linked to the index. As of the latest data, XRPH11’s net worth is nearly $40 million.

The ETF’s fee structure includes a maximum global fee of 0.7% annually for administration, management, and distribution, plus a maximum custody fee of 0.1% per year. No structuring fees apply to the fund.

With the launch of XRPH11, Hashdex has expanded its ETF lineup on B3 to nine products, said Samir Kerbage, CIO of Hashdex.

He added that the new fund is part of Hashdex’s mono-asset ETF group, which also includes BITH11, ETHE11, and SOLH11. These funds target sophisticated investors like institutions who want to develop crypto strategies on B3.

As Brazil debuts the world’s first XRP ETF, the US is expected to approve funds that track the world’s fourth-largest crypto asset soon.

If approved by the SEC, spot Solana and XRP ETFs could draw up to $14 billion in investments, as estimated by JPMorgan analysts.

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CME Group, the world’s top-tier operator of derivatives exchanges, is planning to roll out XRP futures on May 19, pending regulatory review, the company shared in a Thursday announcement.

CME will offer both micro-sized contracts of 2,500 XRP and large-sized contracts of 50,000 XRP. These contracts will be cash-settled based on the CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate, calculated daily at 4:00 p.m. London time.

The announcement appears to corroborate a prior leak from the exchange’s staging website, which mentioned a February 10 launch of XRP and Solana futures. CME later clarified that the information was incorrect and that no formal plans had been confirmed.

Giovanni Vicioso, who oversees CME’s crypto product strategies, pointed to the increasing interest in XRP and its technology as the key reason for the upcoming product launch. The company wants to give investors a more efficient way to gain exposure to XRP, now ranking as the fourth-largest crypto asset by market cap.

“Interest in XRP and its underlying ledger (XRPL) has steadily increased as institutional and retail adoption for the network grows, and we are pleased to launch these new futures contracts to provide a capital-efficient toolset to support clients’ investment and hedging strategies,” Vicioso said in a statement.

The addition of XRP futures expands CME’s crypto product suite, which includes Bitcoin and Ether futures and options, along with the recently launched SOL futures.

CME Group reported that in Q1, average daily volume in crypto futures and options reached 198,000 contracts—equivalent to $11.3 billion in notional value—representing a 141% increase year-over-year. Average open interest rose to 251,000 contracts, up 83% from the same quarter last year.

“Bringing CME Group XRP futures to Robinhood is a natural next step in our mission to expand retail access to futures trading,” said JB Mackenzie, VP and GM of Futures and International at Robinhood.

“XRP was purpose-built for real financial use cases and today facilitates global value transfers through the fast, low-cost XRP Ledger,” said Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium. The company’s 2x Daily Long XRP ETF reached $35 million in assets under management in its first 10 trading days.

This is a developing story.

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Coinbase has officially rolled out two XRP futures contracts on its derivatives exchange, offering market participants new tools to manage risk and gain exposure to the price of the fourth-largest crypto asset, the company said in a Monday announcement.

Coinbase Derivatives, LLC now offers CFTC-regulated futures for $XRP. https://t.co/omSNu0aEoC

— Coinbase Institutional 🛡️ (@CoinbaseInsto) April 21, 2025

The newly launched XRP futures come in two sizes. The nano XRP futures product, tailored for smaller participants, represents 500 XRP per contract and settles in US dollars. It’s aimed at retail traders and smaller institutions seeking lower capital requirements while maintaining exposure to XRP price movements.

The XRP futures product represents 10,000 XRP per contract, also cash-settled in USD. This version is designed for large institutions and active traders.

The new offerings help expand Coinbase Derivatives’ product lineup, which already includes over 20 futures contracts on assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Stellar, Chainlink, and Solana, to name a few.

Coinbase Derivatives announced plans to launch the two XRP futures products earlier this month after unveiling CFTC-regulated Cardano (ADA) and Natural Gas (NGS) futures contracts. These launches are part of the exchange’s strategy to provide investors with more regulated crypto and traditional futures trading options.

Before Coinbase, Bitnomial was the first to introduce CFTC-regulated XRP futures in the US.

The development comes after recent legal developments involving Ripple Labs, XRP’s developer. Last month, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced the SEC’s withdrawal of its appeal against the company.

The move also comes at a time when multiple fund managers, such as Bitwise, Canary Capital, 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton, have filed with the SEC for XRP-related investment products.

XRP was trading at approximately $2.1 at press time, up around 3% in the last 24 hours per CoinGecko. The digital asset is known for its ability to facilitate fast, low-cost cross-border payments.

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Gold and Bitcoin, commonly referred to as ‘digital gold,’ climbed higher during early Asian trading after Trump reignited attention to these top assets.

In a post on Truth Social, the president declared, “THE GOLDEN RULE OF NEGOTIATING AND SUCCESS: HE WHO HAS THE GOLD MAKES THE RULES.”

The statement, which touched on the age-old link between wealth and power, sparked a strong market reaction.

Gold hit a record $3,385, gaining nearly 2% in 24 hours, according to TradingView. Bitcoin also rallied, rising about 3% to $87,500. The token is up 4.5% over the past week.

Trump’s weekend comment wasn’t out of character, given the fact that he had made similar remarks before. Although it may seem tied to recent gains in Bitcoin and gold, analysts believe the real momentum comes from ongoing US-China tensions and growing economic uncertainty.

Commenting on the rare synchronized rally of gold and Bitcoin, The Kobeissi Letter said it signals a growing consensus among investors that uncertainty is building and the US dollar may be headed lower.

“Gold has hit its 55th all-time high in 12 months, and Bitcoin is officially joining the run, now above $87,000. The narrative in both Gold and Bitcoin is aligning for the first time in years: Gold and Bitcoin are telling us that a weaker US Dollar and more uncertainty are on the way,” The Kobeissi Letter stated.

The US dollar index plunged to a three-year low in early Asian trading on Monday. According to ZeroHedge, the sharp decline was driven by mounting market fears following comments from National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, who indicated that President Trump is still considering ways to remove Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The prospect of Trump exerting more direct control over monetary policy, or continuing his public attacks on the Fed, has unsettled traders. As a result, investors moved aggressively to sell the dollar, the analyst suggested.

That makes Bitcoin’s behavior during this dollar collapse remarkable. Historically, when the dollar weakens, Bitcoin’s price often falls as well, as both assets can be seen as competing safe-haven investments.

However, Bitcoin did not follow the usual pattern, signaling a “regime shift.”

there it is: dollar disintegrating and suddenly bitcoin soars $1000 higher to $86750, highest since April 2. Looks like regime shift finally kicked in

Meanwhile, gold surging to fresh record highs

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 21, 2025

Market observers suggest this deviation could indicate Bitcoin’s evolving role as a store of value, potentially separating it from tech sector volatility, though analysts caution it’s premature to confirm a definitive decoupling from risk-on assets.

Franklin Templeton Digital Assets reported last week that Bitcoin shows a stronger correlation with tech stocks rather than gold.

Despite the narrative of Bitcoin as ‘digital gold,’ data over the past three years demonstrate a correlation coefficient with gold rarely exceeding 0.3, indicating that the two assets typically move independently of each other.

In contrast, Bitcoin’s correlation with tech equities has reached as high as 0.7, affirming its alignment more with the tech sector than with traditional safe-haven assets.

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John Patrick Mullin, Mantra’s co-founder and CEO, has stated that the team is finalizing its token burn program and actively working on a buyback plan. Both efforts come in the wake of the OM token’s recent collapse.

“The burn program details are in the final stages, and will be shared in the near future. Buyback program also well underway. We are working around the clock for the Sherpas/OMies,” Mullin wrote on X on Friday.

OM, the native token of the MANTRA ecosystem, saw a steep price decline on April 13, plummeting over 90% to $0.37 in a matter of hours.

Following the large-scale liquidation that wiped out around $5 billion in OM’s market value, OM recovered to above $1 but again retraced. The token surged as much as 14% on Friday after Mullin’s latest update.

Ever since the incident, the project team has repeatedly asserted that they did not make any OM sales during the token’s sudden collapse.

In some of his early statements post-event, Mullin claimed reckless forced liquidations on centralized exchanges triggered the 90% drop in the OM token’s value.

In an official statement released on April 16, Mantra’s internal investigation confirmed forced liquidation of OM collateral during low-volume trading hours as the main cause.

All OM team allocations remain locked, and most market activity involves legacy ERC-20 tokens in public circulation, according to the team.

In a bid to rewin community trust, Mantra plans to launch a buyback and burn program, release a live tokenomics dashboard, and work with exchanges to provide more transparency.

Mullin has also publicly committed to burning his personal token allocation as part of the recovery effort.

The teams token allocation are actually vesting only starting in 2027, which is 30 months from mainnet launch (Oct. 24).

I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens and when we turn it around the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back. 🫡🕉️ https://t.co/ZQR1H5xAqF

— JP Mullin (🕉, 🏘️) (@jp_mullin888) April 15, 2025

Mullin has also suggested a decentralized vote to decide on the burning of 300 million team tokens in response to some concerns about the burning program’s impact on long-term team motivation.

Mantra allocated 300 million OM tokens, nearly 17% of its supply, to the team and core contributors. Locked until staged releases between April 2027 and October 2029, the stash is now valued at over $200 million, down from around $1.8 billion before the recent price crash.

At the time of writing, OM traded at $0.68, down approximately 88% from its pre-collapse point of $6, according to CoinGecko data.

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HashKey Capital, part of HashKey Group’s leading digital asset financial network, is introducing Asia’s first investment product linked to XRP, now the third-largest crypto asset by market cap.

The fund, also known as the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund, is designed for professional investors who want regulated exposure to XRP without the hassle of managing ownership, custody, or trading, the team shared in an announcement on X.

Ripple is backing the fund as both an early and anchor investor. According to HashKey Capital, Ripple’s involvement is instrumental in bridging traditional finance and Web3 innovation.

Through the new offering, the team aims to provide a critical on-ramp for institutions seeking seamless access to blockchain-based financial services.

The HashKey XRP Tracker Fund allows subscriptions and redemptions in cash and in kind every month. It joins HashKey Capital’s growing list of crypto investment products, including Bitcoin (3008.HK) and Ethereum (3009.HK) ETFs.

Discussing the launch, Vivien Wong, Partner, Liquid Funds at HashKey Capital, said that XRP has established itself as a powerhouse in cross-border payments, enabling faster and cheaper transactions compared to traditional networks like SWIFT.

Its blockchain, the XRP Ledger, is also a growing hub for tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). This reinforces XRP’s utility and appeal to financial institutions and enterprises worldwide.

“XRP stands out as one of the most innovative cryptocurrencies in today’s market, attracting global enterprises who use it to transact, tokenize, and store value,” said Wong. “With the first XRP Tracker Fund available in the region, we simplify access to XRP, catering to the demand for investment opportunities in the very best digital assets.”

CF Benchmark, known for launching ETF products in the US and Asia Pacific, will serve as the fund’s benchmark provider.

“Institutional investors are eager to access regulated products around the world, and this is exactly what the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund will deliver in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Fiona Murray, Managing Director APAC at Ripple.

While currently structured as a private tracker fund available to professional investors, HashKey Capital hinted that the fund could transition into a full-fledged exchange-traded fund (ETF) within the next one to two years, pending regulatory approvals.

Beyond the Tracker Fund, HashKey Capital and Ripple are exploring a wide range of joint initiatives, the asset manager said. These include developing new investment products, cross-border decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions, and tokenization strategies.

Hashkey Capital added that the two entities are in talks about the launch of a money market fund tokenized on the XRP Ledger.

XRP-based investment products gain ground

The launch of the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund comes as investment products linked to XRP are gaining traction around the world.

Brazil has become the world’s first country to approve a spot XRP ETF, the Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Index Fund, which will be listed on the B3 stock exchange. The Hashdex-managed fund will directly hold XRP, providing investors with regulated and transparent exposure to the major crypto asset.

In the US, multiple applications for spot XRP ETFs are under SEC review, and industry experts are optimistic about their eventual approval.

Earlier this month, Teucrium kicked off the first US-listed leveraged XRP ETF, which saw strong debut trading volumes. The product is intended for short-term trading and does not directly hold XRP; instead, it uses swaps referencing European XRP ETPs.

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