XRP has set a new benchmark for institutional adoption, becoming the quickest contract ever to reach $1 billion in open interest on the CME Group’s derivatives marketplace.

The achievement places XRP futures alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) in CME’s “$1B club,” a level often viewed as the threshold where liquidity deepens and institutional capital starts to shape pricing.

CME Milestone Signals Institutional Confidence

The CME Group, which was ranked by Forbes earlier in the year as the most trusted crypto exchange globally, announced that its entire crypto futures suite had topped $30 billion in notional open interest for the first time.

Within that, BTC futures remain the largest at more than $16 billion, while ETH holds $10.5 billion. Solana and XRP have both crossed $1 billion, but XRP’s speed in reaching the mark has caught the industry’s attention.

Pseudonymous market watcher SonOfaRichard highlighted that reaching $1 billion in open interest signals “the big leagues” for liquidity, as spreads tighten and risk desks begin treating contracts with the same seriousness as BTC and ETH.

He added that XRP’s rapid climb suggests institutions are allocating significant size rather than testing the waters, potentially paving the way for deeper derivatives markets and even ETF products.

The achievement comes against a backdrop of increasing ecosystem expansion by Ripple. The company has just partnered with Gemini to launch an XRP-focused credit card that also integrates its RLUSD stablecoin. This follows Ripple’s earlier support for Gemini’s IPO plans and represents another step in extending XRP’s use cases in payments and tokenization.

Price Action Cools Despite Derivatives Growth

Despite the derivatives milestone, the price of XRP has struggled to hold above $3. Data from CoinGecko shows the asset trading at $2.92, down slightly by 0.8% on the day and 3.1% over the past week.

The drop-off is even bigger across 30 days, with XRP down almost 10% in that period, putting it nearly 20% below its July 18 all-time high of $3.65. Nonetheless, it remains up 390% year-on-year.

Technical analysts remain cautious. As reported by CryptoPotato, there have been heavy exchange inflows from large holders, suggesting ongoing profit-taking that could pressure prices further.

Furthermore, analyst Duo Nine recently flagged a descending triangle pattern and warned that if XRP fails to reclaim $3 convincingly, bears could drive it toward the $2.7 support.