Coinbase Activates Trade at Settlement for XRP Futures, Placing XRP Alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum

Coinbase filed with the CFTC on April 21 to activate Trade at Settlement for XRP futures on May 1, 2025, placing XRP alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, and crude oil in having this institutional trading feature. Trade at Settlement allows institutions to execute large block orders at the official 4:00 p.m. ET settlement price without price slippage, a capability standard in traditional commodity markets for decades. The move follows the SEC-CFTC joint ruling in March 2025 classifying XRP as a digital commodity, and comes as Coinbase surveys show 65% of large funds are waiting on regulatory clarity before increasing XRP positions, though 18% already hold XRP and 25% plan to add exposure in 2025. XRP ETF inflows have reached $1.28 billion, while the CLARITY Act may stall in 2026 if the Senate Banking Committee doesn't act by end of May 2025.

Coinbase Trade at Settlement activation for XRP futures

• ▪Trade at Settlement is already live on Coinbase for Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, and crude oil
• ▪The Coinbase CFTC filing covers both nano XRP and full-sized XRP futures contracts on Coinbase Derivatives
• ▪Coinbase is activating Trade at Settlement for XRP futures on May 1, 2025
• ▪The SEC-CFTC joint ruling classified XRP as a digital commodity in March 2025
• ▪Coinbase filed with the CFTC on April 21 to roll out Trade at Settlement for XRP futures

Institutional adoption barriers and regulatory clarity

• ▪A Coinbase survey showed that 25% of large funds plan to add XRP exposure in 2025
• ▪A Coinbase survey showed that 18% of large funds already hold XRP as of last month
• ▪XRP ETF inflows reached $1.28 billion
• ▪The CLARITY Act may not move in 2026 if the Senate Banking Committee doesn't mark it up by the end of May 2025
• ▪A Coinbase survey showed that 65% of large funds are waiting on regulatory clarity before increasing XRP positions

How Trade at Settlement works for large institutional orders

• ▪Large traders cannot move size in a live market without pushing the price against themselves
• ▪Trade at Settlement prevents institutional orders from experiencing price slippage as the order fills
• ▪Trade at Settlement allows institutions to execute large block orders at the official 4:00 p.m. ET settlement price
• ▪Trade at Settlement has been standard in traditional commodity markets for decades

Perspective of Coinbase

• ▪Coinbase positions XRP Trade at Settlement as placing XRP alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum in institutional trading infrastructure
• ▪Coinbase views the XRP futures Trade at Settlement feature as meeting institutional demand for price certainty on large orders

Perspective of Institutional investors in XRP

• ▪Institutional investors view Trade at Settlement for XRP futures as solving the problem of price slippage on large block orders
• ▪Large funds consider the March 2025 SEC-CFTC joint ruling classifying XRP as a digital commodity as a key regulatory milestone

Perspective of XRP advocates

• ▪XRP supporters point to the $1.28 billion in XRP ETF inflows as evidence of strong institutional demand