In a dramatic twist that caught both institutional and retail investors off guard, the world’s first spot XRP ETF crashed over 20% within hours of launching, raising fresh questions about the readiness of XRP for mainstream financial products.
The ETF, launched on the European Euronext exchange under the ticker XRPEX, was expected to mark a major milestone in XRP’s path to institutional acceptance. Instead, it opened at €4.10 and quickly dropped below €3.25 before recovering slightly by end of day..
📉 Why the Drop?
Analysts cite several possible reasons for the sharp decline:
- Overhyped expectations going into launch
- Lack of institutional volume support early in the trading day
- Market-wide risk-off sentiment due to macroeconomic news
- Whale wallets potentially front-running or offloading on the news
“We saw a classic ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ event,” said analyst Marco Stein of ETF Markets Europe. “The fundamentals of XRP didn’t change, but the market got ahead of itself.”🏦 What Is a Spot ETF?
A spot ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) holds the actual asset—in this case, XRP—rather than a derivative or futures contract. This makes it more transparent, but also more sensitive to real-time market movements.
XRPEX was designed to give institutional investors exposure to XRP without needing to custody tokens directly. While that promise remains valid, the volatility shown on day one may temper enthusiasm from cautious funds.
👀 What Does This Mean for XRP?
XRP remains one of the top-traded digital assets globally, and the ETF approval was seen as a huge win for Ripple and its ecosystem. But the early price drop suggests:
- Short-term volatility remains a barrier to institutional buy-in
- Market liquidity needs to deepen to absorb large volumes
- Retail enthusiasm alone cannot sustain ETF price floors
“The ETF isn’t a failure—but it’s a wake-up call that XRP’s maturity as an asset class still has hurdles,” said Laura Cheng, senior strategist at CoinTrust Research."🔮 What’s Next?
XRPEX’s performance will be closely watched in the coming weeks. If inflows stabilize and volatility cools, this could still become a turning point for XRP adoption among wealth managers and crypto hedge funds.
Meanwhile, Ripple executives have not commented on the price movement but continue to promote the ETF as a step toward global utility and legitimacy.
💬 Final Thoughts
The first XRP ETF may have stumbled out of the gate, but it’s a long race ahead. For XRP holders and traders, the lesson is clear: institutional integration doesn’t erase volatility—it amplifies it under the spotlight.
Stay tuned with CoinTrust for full coverage of XRPEX and the broader crypto ETF movement.