XRP Gains Momentum on Leveraged ETF Debut, Ripple’s $1.25B Acquisition, and Standard Chartered’s Ethereum Forecast

Strategic Moves Push XRP to the Forefront of Institutional Crypto

Wall Street's appetite for crypto products is seeing a fresh surge, as Ripple-backed XRP secures a new financial milestone with the launch of the first U.S.-listed leveraged XRP ETF. Teucrium Investment Advisors, a firm already known for its Bitcoin futures ETF, has introduced the Teucrium 2x Daily XRP ETF under the ticker XXRP, now trading on NYSE Arca. 

Designed to deliver twice the daily return of XRP via swap agreements, the product carries a 1.85% annual management fee. With no spot XRP ETF yet approved in the U.S., Teucrium is basing the swaps on established European exchange-traded products issued by firms including 21Shares, WisdomTree, CoinShares, and Bitwise. A short version of the ETF, allowing investors to bet against XRP performance, is also underway.

Teucrium’s CEO, Sal Gilbertie, attributes the timing of the launch to a combination of low prices and high investor demand. The SEC’s recent green light for the leveraged fund follows a favorable outcome in the agency’s long-running lawsuit against Ripple, which has significantly improved regulatory sentiment. 

Approval odds for spot XRP ETFs now sit at 86%, bolstered by a 14% bump in XRP’s crypto price index. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expects multiple spot ETF approvals by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Bitwise, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and WisdomTree are among several asset managers already vying for spot XRP ETF listings, with speculation mounting around whether giants like BlackRock and Fidelity will soon join the fray.

Ripple’s aggressive push into traditional finance took another major step with its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a crypto-forward prime brokerage clearing over $3 trillion annually across 300-plus institutions. The acquisition positions Ripple as the world’s largest non-bank prime broker, reinforcing its aim to fuse crypto infrastructure with global finance. 

Hidden Road will integrate Ripple’s entire ecosystem—including its XRPL ledger and the RLUSD stablecoin launched last December—into its operations. RLUSD will be used as collateral in the firm’s clearing services, streamlining transactions that would otherwise take 24 hours using traditional fiat rails.

Garlinghouse called the acquisition a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to eliminate the divide between crypto and traditional markets. Ripple President Monica Long added during Paris Blockchain Week that the company is prioritizing mergers and acquisitions over a public listing, citing internal liquidity strength. 

Hidden Road CEO Marc Asch highlighted the benefits of the deal, including access to new resources and licenses, as well as greater risk capital to support an expanded portfolio of products and markets. Garlinghouse noted the timing was made possible by improved regulatory clarity, suggesting a new chapter for crypto firms operating in the U.S.

XRP’s momentum has not gone unnoticed by major financial institutions. Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research, issued a new forecast suggesting XRP will surpass Ethereum in coin market cap by the end of 2028. 

He emphasized XRP’s strength in cross-border and cross-currency payment flows—an area he sees growing in volume and importance—while contrasting it with Ethereum’s current dominance in DeFi and smart contracts, which he labeled a “relative underperformer.” Kendrick grouped XRP with Bitcoin and Avalanche as the top digital assets to watch through 2028 and urged a long-term holding approach, signaling confidence in XRP’s evolving role in institutional finance.

The timing of Standard Chartered’s forecast, landing just one day after the NYSE approved XXRP, underscores a growing convergence of regulatory progress, market infrastructure, and institutional adoption favoring XRP. An immediate market reaction followed the ETF approval, pushing XRP’s crypto price up nearly 11% to $1.96 before erasing its gains. 

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas remarked on the unusual sequence, noting this marks one of the rare occasions in crypto where a leveraged ETF precedes a spot product—underscoring the shifting dynamics in digital asset investment.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.