In February, Ripple formalized its partnership with Crypto Facilities, a London-based financial services firm that provides FCA-regulated risk management and trading solutions for digital assets.

Today, Ripple is excited to announce that Crypto Facilities will be the first derivatives exchange to list regulated XRP futures contracts. To further establish digital assets as a new asset class, Crypto Facilities is also partnering with CME Group, which has invested in Ripple through its venture arm.

Trading on Crypto Facilities is currently focused in countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia with U.S. availability on the roadmap. Ripple’s partnership with the exchange offers an additional venue to trade XRP, opening access to a wider customer base. Expanding the number and size of regulated XRP trading venues will enhance price discovery and market efficiency of the asset.

“Crypto Facilities is excited to be working with Ripple to list regulated futures on Ripple XRP. Banks, liquidity providers and traders are holding XRP in significant size and will be able to use the new marketplace to manage and trade XRP price risk,” stated Dr. Timo Schlaefer, CEO of Crypto Facilities.

Ripple’s new product offering of cash-settled futures contracts on Crypto Facilities includes a ripple-dollar contract that provides up to 8x leverage and a ripple-bitcoin contract that provides up to 5x leverage. Futures come with one week, two weeks, one quarter, two quarters and three quarters maturities. Further documentation and APIs are available at Crypto Facilities.

This product offering will adhere to Crypto Facilities’ professional standards in terms of regulatory compliance, secure asset custody and counterparty credit risk management.

With proven governance and the fastest transaction confirmation of its kind, XRP provides global reach and fast settlement finality to banks and liquidity providers. XRP enables the transfer of value anywhere in the world with less friction and fewer barriers to entry than the correspondent banking system.

Making XRP available for trading on Crypto Facilities offers institutions custodying XRP an opportunity to manage their downside price risk, thereby increasing market stability. Ultimately, hedging allows banks to capitalize on the reach and real-time settlement speed that XRP affords as a bridge currency, making use cases like low-value corporate disbursements and retail remittances not just possible but profitable.

Ripple’s partnership with Crypto Facilities plays a key role in institutionalizing XRP as the most efficient digital asset for interbank settlement. Additionally, the joint efforts of Crypto Facilities and CME Group demonstrate the long-term support of XRP and Ripple from its ever-increasing network of customers and partners.