XRP Futures Filed by Coinbase: Launch Set for April 21, 2025

April 4, 2025 by Mishal Ali

Key Takeaways:

• Coinbase files to launch XRP futures, targeting April 21, 2025.
• XRP’s non-security status reaffirmed through key legal milestones.
• Deaton revisits Coinbase-SEC history, highlighting regulatory inconsistency.

Coinbase’s derivatives arm is gearing up to list XRP futures contracts, awaiting self-certification by the U.S. CFTC. Rollout date: April 21, 2025. A milestone in the bumpy regulatory ride for XRP.

The announcement promotes a capital-effective and regulated avenue for access to one of the most liquid digital assets currently in the marketplace.

This news is especially significant as it occurred only a few years after Ripple’s native coin found itself amid a publicity-gaining legal dispute with the SEC.

Coinbase’s move to list XRP futures contracts indicates increasing confidence in the asset’s legal certainty in the wake of a historic decision that determined the cryptocurrency isn’t a security by nature.

The offering of futures will help institutional and retail investors have a compliant and economical way into the ecosystem of XRP, marking a maturity in the U.S. derivatives market for previously troubled tokens.

John Deaton Lays Out Coinbase-SEC Backstory

Crypto attorney John E. Deaton went over the past history between the SEC and Coinbase concerning the cryptocurrency, clarifying past events that now appear pivotal in understanding the current regulatory environment.

Deaton mentioned that as early as January 2019, Coinbase had presented the SEC with its in-house legal opinion that the cryptocurrency was not a security. This opinion had been put together by the legal team at Coinbase, who were among the top securities lawyers in the nation.

Rather than acting unilaterally, Coinbase sought the SEC’s feedback before listing XRP, aiming to maintain transparency and regulatory compliance. The SEC reportedly did not object to Coinbase’s interpretation at the time.

It resulted in the public listing of the cryptocurrency on the platform in February 2019, followed by the promotion by Coinbase, particularly the cross-border payments together with USDC.

Deaton also drew attention to a key internal memo by SEC enforcement attorneys, the June 13, 2018, XRP Howey Memo. He explained that the memo didn’t call for the initiation of an enforcement action, which suggested the SEC itself had not determined that the cryptocurrency was a security at that time.

That timeline differs starkly from the SEC’s later actions in December 2020, when it sued Ripple Labs and executives for selling unregistered securities offerings in the form of XRP.

XRP Strengthens Market Position Following Legal Win

The final court decision in favor of Ripple, with the ruling by Judge Torres that XRP itself was not a security, has since reshaped the narrative in the markets. The case had huge backing by the community, with more than 75,000 holders filing as amici.

That move resulted in prompt relistings on several platforms, including Coinbase. Now, with Coinbase looking forward to offering XRP futures, the token seems to be taking back its space in the regulated market.

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