XRP Army Is Truly Global As CME Data Reveals Nearly Half of XRP Futures Trading Occurs in Non-U.S. Hours

The CME's recently launched $XRP

The regulated $XRP futures – standard and micro-sized contracts – began trading on the global derivatives giant a week ago, registering a total trading volume of 4,032, worth $86.6 million in the first six trading days, the exchange's spokesperson told CoinDesk.

The spokesperson highlighted that "46% of the [total] volume occurred during non-U.S. hours" and nearly half of the trading comes from participants outside the U.S.

The data suggest strong international participation in the futures market. $XRP is a payments-focused cryptocurrency primarily designed for fast and low-cost cross-border payments. 

Ripple, a financial technology company, uses $XRP and the $XRP Ledger (XRPL) to facilitate international money transfers.

The CME's standard and micro contracts, sized at 50,000 $XRP and 2,500 $XRP, respectively, are cash-settled and based on the SME CF CRP-Dollar Reference rate, which tracks the cryptocurrency's price daily at 4:00 p.m. London time.

These futures enable traders to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without actually owning it.