Investors piled into the first Dogecoin (DOGE) and XRP (XRP) exchange-traded funds in the US on their debut trading day, blasting through analysts’ trading volume expectations.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on X that most new ETFs see around $1 million in trading volume, but the new crypto funds were “no slouch,” together seeing $54.7 million in trades over the day.
Asset issuers REX Shares and Osprey Funds together launched ETFs on Thursday tracking the price of the third-largest cryptocurrency, XRP, and the eighth-largest cryptocurrency and largest memecoin, Dogecoin.
Balchunas added that the volumes were a “good sign for the onslaught” of crypto-related ETFs that are awaiting regulatory approval to launch. Issuers have filed dozens of crypto ETFs tied to speculative altcoins or with novel instruments such as staking.
XRP ETF trades near $40 million
The REX-Osprey XRP ETF (XRPR), which tracks XRP, saw $37.7 million in volume, according to data from Balchunas and Cboe.
Balchunas said it has the “biggest day one” in terms of monetary volume “of any 2025 launch.”
XRPR was a fast gainer out of the gate, as Balchunas had earlier noted that the ETF took in $24 million in volume within its first hour and a half on the market.
“That is way more than I would have thought,” he said. “For context, it’s 5x more than any of the XRP futures ETFs did on Day One and it’s only been 90min.”
Dogecoin ETF also performs well
Earlier on Thursday, Balchunas said he expected that the Dogecoin-tracking REX-Osprey DOGE ETF (DOJE) would see $2.5 million in volume on the day, which he said would be respectable but “nothing too special.”
He later said that his expectation was “destroyed in the first hour of trading” as the ETF neared $6 million in volume.
“That’s shockingly solid,” he said. ”Most ETFs trade under $1m on Day One.”
DOJE finished trading on Thursday with $17 million in volume traded, which Balchunas added would land it among the top five out of over 700 ETF launches this year.
ETF types didn’t dissuade investors
REX and Osprey filed their two ETFs under a securities law different from the laws under which most existing crypto-tied exchange-traded products were launched.
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XRPR and DOJE are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the so-called “40 Act,” while the popular Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) funds launched last year were under the Securities Act of 1933, or the “33 Act.”
Balchunas said early on Thursday that as both ETFs were registered under the 40 Act, it “could diminish interest a bit relative to other crypto first evers.”
The 40 Act gives a faster approval window of 75 days compared to 240 days under the 33 Act, but comes with certain limitations on what the ETF can hold.
XRPR and DOJE don’t directly hold crypto but instead invest in a Cayman Islands-based subsidiary that does. They also buy shares in foreign exchange-traded products based in Europe and Canada that track XRP and DOGE to try to track the asset’s price.
Many pending crypto funds, including for XRP and Dogecoin, are awaiting approval, and the Securities and Exchange Commission approved ETF listing standards on Wednesday that could speed up the process.
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