XRP just got its first-ever ETF in the US, and on paper, that sounds like something that should boost investor confidence. Instead, due to the escalating trade war, the opposite happened.
As of now, XRP trades at $1.83 – down 2.3% in the past 24 hours and 14% over the last week. Most of that drop came recently, right after “Liberation Day”, when the U.S. raised tariffs on over 60 countries. The ETF launch got caught in the noise – and the price didn’t stand a chance because everyone was too busy reacting to news about U.S.-China trade.
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A Launch Overshadowed by Tariffs
The timing couldn’t have been worse. In the same day that XXRP launched, the U.S. confirmed new tariffs on Chinese goods, pushing rates as high as 104%. That triggered a sharp reaction in global markets. Stocks fell, crypto followed, and any optimism around XRP’s new ETF was buried under headlines about supply chains and inflation.
So even though this ETF gives traders a new way to bet on XRP’s short-term price movements, the market didn’t respond the way some expected. The volume was solid – about $5 million on launch day – but it wasn’t enough to shift the mood. The ETF now exists, but XRP’s price continues to fall.
What XXRP Actually Is
This isn’t a spot ETF. It doesn’t hold any XRP directly. Instead, XXRP gets its exposure through swap agreements and price tracking from European-listed XRP products. It’s structured to deliver 2x the daily performance of XRP, meaning it’s mostly meant for short-term, high-conviction traders.
With a 1.85% management fee and a design meant for daily resets, it’s not something most people will hold long-term. In fact, Teucrium – the company behind it – has said very clearly that this is a product aimed at aggressive traders, not casual investors.
The ETF’s creator, Sal Gilbertie, said he believes now is the right time for a leveraged XRP product, pointing to the asset’s relatively low price and the growing interest from U.S. traders. He’s not wrong about the interest. What’s missing right now is the optimism.
Price Action Tells a Different Story
XRP had been holding above $2 just a week ago. Then came Trump’s “Liberation Day” – and everything changed. The global reaction to his aggressive trade policy was swift. Stocks dropped. Crypto dropped. And XRP, which had been looking relatively stable, got dragged down with everything else.
The numbers speak for themselves: down 14% in a week and 15% over the last month – nearly all of the monthly loss happened in just the past few days. Even on ETF launch day, XRP dropped another 2.3%,
That’s not the kind of movement people expect when a major financial product tied to an asset is introduced. But it also reflects the current state of the market – where even good news struggles to break through if the macro environment is too heavy.
A Step Forward, But Not a Catalyst
For Teucrium, this is a clear success. They got the ETF approved, listed, and launched during a tough time – and still managed decent volume. The company is already planning to launch a short version of the fund (which profits when XRP goes down), but they’re waiting to see how this one performs first.
For XRP, it’s a step forward, just not the explosive one some were hoping for. This ETF doesn’t mean more people are actually using XRP. It doesn’t increase utility. It’s just a tool for speculation – and right now, there’s not a lot of appetite for risk.
Spot ETFs are still the big prize. That’s what could actually shift XRP’s price in a meaningful way, by opening the door for bigger institutional investors to get involved. Until that happens, leveraged ETFs like XXRP might generate trading interest – but probably won’t change the bigger trend.
The Bigger Picture
If this ETF had launched two weeks ago, the story might’ve looked very different. Back then, XRP was inching toward $2.20, and the broader crypto market was calmer. But timing is everything – and this time, the timing was rough. Between inflation fears, tariffs, and political tension, a leveraged XRP ETF just wasn’t enough to lift the mood.
That said, the fact that this product exists at all is still meaningful. It shows that XRP is being taken more seriously by traditional finance – even without a spot ETF. That alone could be a signal of what’s coming next.
For now, though, the price is telling a different story. Traders aren’t ignoring the ETF – they’re just focused on something bigger: a market that feels fragile and a political climate that doesn’t exactly invite risk. Until those change, XRP’s ETF launch might stay in the background.
