XRP custody and futures hedge represented on an institutional trading desk

Bitwise’s XRP Carry Fund Reveals a 14.57% Yield Inside a 97.5% Hedge

By Isaac • September 4, 2026 11:14 pm • Comments

Bitwise has given the XRP market an unusually clear look at what institutional demand can mean when the buyer is not making a simple bet on price.

The firm’s Crypto Carry Fund held 10,781,438 XRP in custody while carrying a short position equivalent to 10,510,000 XRP in September Coinbase futures, according to a September 1 holdings snapshot examined by CryptoSlate. That left 97.48% of the spot quantity offset and only about 271,438 XRP exposed to a parallel directional move.

The displayed 14.57% implied yield came from a futures price roughly 0.91% above the spot-equivalent mark, annualized over the time remaining until settlement. The fund was positioned to collect the gap between spot XRP and a more expensive futures contract while the long and short legs canceled out most of the token’s day-to-day move.

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CryptoSlate calculated spot- and futures-equivalent marks of about $1.3222 and $1.3342 from the disclosed quantities and notional values. The difference between the two displayed notionals was $232,776, while the residual long position amounted to 271,438.36 XRP.

That is a classic cash-and-carry trade, but the size of the hedge matters. The Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund describes its strategy as capturing futures premiums over spot across digital-asset markets.

Its XRP book shows how much capital can appear on both sides of the same asset without representing a bullish or bearish conviction call. Bitwise reports the fund’s 30-day yield separately and lists a 0.75% management fee.

The 14.57% figure is not a guaranteed investor return; it is an annualized implied rate for the displayed holding. Management fees, execution, financing, custody, margin, basis movement and rolling costs can all change the realized result.

The remaining unhedged XRP also retains direct price exposure. The public disclosure does not identify the exact futures product code, counterparties or contract count.

Regulated XRP products have been attracting real money even while the token remains volatile:

The spot ETF and the carry fund are different products. Bitwise’s XRP ETF holds the token for price exposure, while the carry strategy uses XRP as inventory against a futures short.

Trading in the ETF complex underscored the same point this week. Some smaller XRP funds moved much faster than the token during a session with relatively modest volume, showing how product liquidity can drive share prices independently of the underlying asset for short periods.

The CFTC adds category-level futures context. Leveraged funds held 13,822 outright shorts and no outright longs in standard Coinbase XRP futures in the cited August 25 report, while dealer and intermediary accounts held 17,853 long contracts and asset managers held another 1,800.

Those categories do not reveal Bitwise’s identity or the counterparty behind any specific trade. They do show why a large futures short cannot automatically be read as a negative XRP forecast: it may be offsetting spot inventory in a yield strategy.

Institutional adoption is no longer one XRP trade. Some firms want direct exposure, while others want yield from market structure.

The same XRP can sit in custody, support an ETF, or serve as the long leg of a hedged basis position. The headline dollar amount tells you very little until you know which job the asset is doing.

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