Dunno why it never caught up. It's got all the advantage of the real SPX but at 1/10 of the size. Would be perfect for small investors.
No it's been there for a while. I've seen it on my trading platform but its volume is just horrible. I thought it would be more attractive than the alternatives like SPY given that it's European with no early assignments and it's cash-settled and all.
I think small cap index or Biotech index would be better candidates if they want to attract day traders (SPX is a heavy index, and divided by 10, they're not going to get this snoozer to move much to be worthwhile for day trading.
Only downside seems to be that XSP is not as liquid as SPX/SPXW options, you will get pretty wide bid/ask. IMHO SPY Options might be a better choice for individual/small accounts.
I trade the XSP all the time. Lower commissions than SPY. Get filled somewhere in the middle at the correct market price calculated by the Binominal option pricing model. I do very seldom execute at the bid or ask then not trading more complex structures.