Analysts were expecting a lukewarm debut for the first US spot Dogecoin and XRP exchange-traded funds, but traders piled in anyway to send volumes soaring.
Within the first hours of Thursday’s session, the REX-Osprey XRP ETF, with the ticker XRPR, had already surpassed $24 million in trading volume.
“That is way more than I would have thought,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas on X. “For context that’s five times more than any of the XRP futures ETFs did on day one and it’s only been 90 minutes.”
The REX-Osprey Dogecoin ETF, with the ticker DOJE, also blew past early expectations. Balchunas had initially set an “over/under” benchmark of $2.5 million for opening-day volume, calling that target “respectable table but nothing too special.” But DOJE crossed $6 million within the first hour.
“My over/under got destroyed. That’s shockingly solid,” he wrote.
The launch of the two funds highlights the swift regulatory changes in the US following the US President Donald Trump’s election victory last year. On the back of his win, he promised to pave the way for more industry-friendly regulations.
The election outcome also saw crypto detractor Gary Gensler resign as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Paul Atkins, a Washington insider and long-time pro-crypto firebrand, replaced Gensler as SEC chair earlier this year and has spent the past couple of months establishing a more industry-friendly approach to regulation.