Jack Paul 
XRP holders can now use Flare’s FXRP as collateral on Derive, the Flare network said Thursday. FXRP is an ERC-20 token that represents XRP on the Flare blockchain. Users mint it through Flare’s FAssets bridge, which also supports tokens like Bitcoin and Dogecoin. From there, they deposit FXRP into a Derive Portfolio Margin V2 account and start trading from their own wallets.
How the integration works
FXRP acts as collateral, so traders don’t need to sell their XRP to enter a derivatives position. Options give the buyer the right to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price before a set deadline. Perpetual futures let traders bet on price changes without an expiration date. With these products, XRP holders can protect against downside moves, collect premiums by writing options, or simply speculate on where the token might go.
The launch gives an established crypto asset something it has lacked for a while: a proper options market. Nick Forster, founder and CEO of Derive, said in a statement that options are often the last major market to develop around an asset. FXRP, he believes, gives one of crypto’s largest holder bases a credible path onchain and brings the same kind of trading tools that already exist for other major assets.
Settlement in USDC
One key detail is that Derive’s XRP options settle in USDC, not XRP. If an option expires in profit, Derive pays the difference in the dollar-pegged stablecoin. The FXRP remains posted as collateral during the trade. Sellers, however, need to hold enough USDC to cover settlement and keep the required margin. If they don’t, they risk liquidation.
FXRP’s growing DeFi role
This isn’t the only DeFi integration for FXRP. Earlier this month, FXRP was approved as collateral in Sentora’s RLUSD Main vault on the Ethereum-based lending protocol Morpho. Through that service, XRP holders can bridge FXRP to Ethereum and borrow Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin without selling their XRP.
The timing makes sense. XRP is one of the more liquid cryptocurrencies, yet derivatives options around it have been slow to develop. Whether enough XRP holders will actually use these tools is another question. But the infrastructure is now in place, and that alone is a step forward.