CME Group may be preparing to launch futures contracts for Solana (SOL) and XRP, based on reports and images shared on social media on January 22.
However, CME Group has yet to make a public statement on the matter and has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the images at the time of writing, leading to rampant speculation.
The information first appeared then an X user, identified as Summers, shared a screenshot of an alleged CME page used for testing. This page, which was offline at the time of writing, is ready for a pre-launch February 10.
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, later shared images revealing that CME would offer futures and microfutures contracts for both assets, all of which would be settled in cash.
The Solana futures contract has a size of 500 SOL, while the micro contract is 25 SOL. The XRP futures contract has a size of 50,000 XRP and the micro version has a size of 2,500 XRP.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart warned about this the page could be fake. However, he added that futures contracts for SOL and XRP make sense and are “largely expected.”
Seyffart also noted that if the images and website are fake, it would be a “good fakeout.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas says he said expected an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that has been tracking SOL futures since mid-March. He also questioned the demand for such a product, as a spot SOL ETF is likely on the way soon.
More than 30 ETFs
The US market is experiencing a surge in crypto-related ETF applications. Seyffart recently highlighted that 33 ETFs, filed by 13 different issuers, are currently awaiting approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In addition to the ETFs filed last year, which track XRP, SOL, Hedera (HBAR), Litecoin (LTC) and baskets of assets, funds tied to memecoins have also emerged.
On January 21, Rex shares submitted for seven different spot ETFs, three of which are tied to the memecoins Official Trump (TRUMP), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Bonk (BONK). Balchunas noted that the situation was “surreal.”
Although Bloomberg ETF analysts have a wave of crypto ETF applications this year they did not include memecoin-indexed spot funds in their forecasts.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, called up the SEC to return ETF approvals to a first-come, first-served process amid the surge in new applications.