CME leak suggests XRP, Solana futures could appear on February 10th

Key Takeaways

CME plans to launch XRP and Solana futures on February 10, pending regulatory approval.
Futures include standard and micro-sized contracts for flexible trading options.

A leaked page from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) staging website suggests that futures trading for XRP and Solana (SOL) could launch on the exchange on February 10, subject to your management license. The unconfirmed news triggered an immediate 3% rise in both XRP and SOL, per CoinGecko.

The subdomain, which was first discovered by handling X “Summers” and confirmed by Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, have revealed plans for a “regulated, capital-efficient future” on two major crypto assets, with standard and micro-sized contracts available. The smaller contracts aim to give traders better flexibility in risk management and position scaling.

The land was taken down shortly after its discovery.

Seyffar noted that if the staging site accurately reflects CME's plans, a February 10 launch date is likely. He said such a move is “pretty much to be expected.”

According to the specifications of the contract described on the page, standard Solana futures will be traded in increments of 500 SOL, and micro Solana futures will be traded in units of 25 SOL.

XRP futures will be available in 50,000 XRP units, with micro contracts sized at 2,500 XRP. All contracts are financially settled in US dollars and support a variety of trading methods, including absolute futures, underlying index-linked (BTIC) trades , and block crafting.

The monthly income contracts will include BTIC and block trading functionality at launch.

The CME has not yet issued a confirmation statement either the accuracy of the information found on its platform website or launch SOL and XRP futures trading.

Last month, Volatility Shares to file by the SEC for an ETF based on Solana futures, aimed at tracking the price movements of Solana through futures contracts regulated by the CFTC. The proposed ETF, also including financial instruments linked to Solana, could strengthen institutional interest in Solana. The approval of this ETF could pave the way for a possible replacement Solana ETF.

Balchunas suggests that the Solana futures ETF could launch as early as mid-March, but there is a question as to whether it will see enough demand given the expected Solana ETF role.

This is a developing story.