XRP ETF Debuts with $36M Volume, Challenges 2025 Record

Canary Capital’s spot XRP ETF (XRPC) made an explosive market entrance on November 13, surpassing $36 million in trading volume within its first three hours of operation. Trading at $25.74 as of 4:43 P.M. UTC, the fund’s initial performance represented 63% of Bitwise’s Solana ETF (BSOL) first-day volume, which currently stands as the 2025 benchmark among more than 850 fund launches this year.

The debut dramatically exceeded expectations, with Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noting the fund would ‘blow away’ his initial $17 million estimate. Balchunas projected the XRP ETF could potentially surpass BSOL’s $57 million opening-day record, positioning XRPC as a serious contender for the strongest exchange-traded fund debut of 2025.

The concentrated buying interest around XRP was particularly notable given broader market conditions. While XRP climbed 3.3% to $2.41 in the 24 hours surrounding the launch, both Ethereum and Solana declined 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively. This divergence suggests the trading activity was specifically tied to the new investment vehicle rather than reflecting general cryptocurrency market momentum.

Canary Capital strategically framed its XRP ETF product around the XRP Ledger’s technical architecture, emphasizing the network’s capabilities as ‘a leading framework for global payments, purpose-built for interoperability and real-world settlement.’ This positioning distinguishes the fund by highlighting payment infrastructure utility over speculative trading, directly aligning with Ripple’s long-standing narrative around enterprise adoption and real-world use cases.

The focus on XRP’s payment infrastructure capabilities represents a deliberate differentiation from other cryptocurrency ETFs in the market. While many digital asset investment products emphasize trading and speculation, Canary Capital’s approach targets investors interested in the underlying technology’s potential to transform global payments and settlement systems.

The XRP ETF’s approval carries significance far beyond its impressive trading metrics, representing a regulatory watershed for the cryptocurrency industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission had maintained active litigation against Ripple Labs for five years before settling just three months ago. XRPC now stands as the first XRP public spot investment product registered under the Securities Act of 1933, marking a dramatic shift in regulatory posture.

NovaDius Wealth president Nate Geraci described the launch as ‘the final nail in the coffin of previous anti-crypto regulators,’ noting that the SEC had appealed a court ruling that XRP did not constitute a security just one year prior. Geraci emphasized the dramatic regulatory transformation, stating: ‘Hard to describe crypto regulatory shift over past year. Night & day.’

The successful launch effectively tests whether institutional demand for XRP exists after years of regulatory uncertainty created by the SEC’s litigation against Ripple. The settlement and subsequent ETF approval have created a new environment where institutional investors can access XRP through regulated channels, removing a significant barrier that had previously limited institutional participation.

Industry experts are projecting substantial growth for the XRP ETF, with Nate Geraci predicting on October 29 that the fund would ‘easily become’ a billion-dollar product within months, with ‘flows dramatically exceeding what people are expecting.’ These projections align with broader expert predictions from September that XRP ETFs could capture $8 billion in their first year of trading.

The strong initial trading volume provides early validation of these optimistic forecasts, suggesting that institutional demand for XRP exposure through regulated vehicles is substantial. The successful debut indicates that despite years of regulatory challenges, both institutional and retail investors remain interested in gaining exposure to XRP through traditional financial infrastructure.

As the first regulated XRP investment product following the SEC settlement, XRPC’s performance will be closely watched as a barometer for institutional appetite not just for XRP specifically, but for cryptocurrency investment products more broadly in the new regulatory environment. The fund’s ability to challenge BSOL’s record-setting debut suggests that the market for cryptocurrency ETFs continues to expand and diversify beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.