After years of anticipation, regulatory battles, and repeated filings, the first-ever U.S. spot ETF tied to XRP finally debuted on Thursday, marking a new chapter for the Ripple-linked token.
Canary Capital’s fund launched with immediate enthusiasm from investors. Nearly $250 million flowed in on day one, far exceeding early expectations and fueling projections that total volume could reach as high as $5 billion within the first quarter of trading. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the ETF rollout “finally happening,” framing the moment as a major step toward mainstream accessibility.
Price Reaction Tells a Different Story
Despite the hype, XRP didn’t rally. Instead, the token slipped roughly 3 percent across the last 24 hours. It remains about 37 percent below its 2017 all-time high of $3.65 — a reminder that bullish catalysts don’t always overpower macro-driven turbulence.
Analysts say there’s nothing uniquely wrong with XRP. The entire digital-asset market is weathering one of its most volatile months of the year. The broad crypto market valuation hit $4.3 trillion on October 7, only to shed nearly $1 trillion in the following weeks. A single day — October 10 — saw $19 billion in leveraged crypto bets wiped out across exchanges.
ETF Outflows and Macro Selloff Weigh on Sentiment
While optimism briefly bounced back earlier this week after the U.S. government shutdown ended, the feeling didn’t last. Bitcoin ETF products recorded about $870 million in net outflows on Thursday, accelerating the risk-off shift. That same day, Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 for the third time this month, dragging most altcoins lower with it.
Market strategists argue the selloff isn’t isolated to crypto — but crypto magnifies the volatility. Max Gokhman of Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions told Bloomberg that crypto’s sensitivity to macro movements remains high because institutional participation still centers around Bitcoin and Ethereum. Broader diversification across major assets, he suggested, could help soften future shocks.
ETF Launch vs. Market Reality
The first week of the spot XRP ETF demonstrates a hard truth that investors sometimes overlook: even historic achievements can be overshadowed by unfavorable market cycles. Under better conditions, analysts believe the inflows might have triggered a stronger rally. Instead, the ETF entered the market at a time when traders were already de-risking across the board.
Still, some market watchers argue that once the macro dust settles, a recovery could follow — especially if institutional inflows resume and the broader crypto complex stabilizes. For now, though, the XRP ETF debut highlights just how quickly excitement can be drowned out when volatility dominates investor psychology.
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