XRP Open Interest Plunges 23% as Traders Unwind Leverage

XRP’s open interest across major derivatives platforms has dropped by about 23% in under a month, falling to roughly $871 million from $1.128 billion in late August.

The decline, which wiped out close to $257 million in outstanding positions, points to traders unwinding leverage built up during the summer rally rather than a fresh wave of bets against the token, and it lines up with a difficult week for XRP on the regulatory front.

XRP Traders Pull Back as Price Loses Ground

CryptoQuant contributor Arab Chain noted that Binance accounted for much of the decline, with open positions falling to $423 million from $558 million in August. Bybit fell to about $291 million from $379 million, while OKX dipped to $107 million from $125 million.

That decline points to positions from the earlier rally being closed or liquidated. Arab Chain also stressed that lower open interest does not by itself establish a continuing bearish trend. Instead, it reflects less exposure to derivatives and traders repositioning.

The change follows a difficult week for XRP as the token fell 8% in the 24 hours following the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15. It dropped from around $1.46 toward $1.27 as selling intensified, with cumulative volume delta falling to negative 10.5 million.

The latest CoinGecko snapshot has XRP around $1.30, having barely moved over 24 hours. However, it is down nearly 7% over seven days and 5.5% in the last 14 days, although it is still up more than 30% across one month. Trading volume is about $3.6 billion, down 39% from the previous day.

The Market Is Testing a Weekly Support Level

Analyst ChartNerd wrote on X on September 17 that XRP was “hugging” its weekly 20 EMA at $1.29. A weekly close above that level, in his opinion, could set up a rebound, while a close below it would leave room for another retracement.

On September 10, he had also identified $1.29 as the first area to watch if XRP continued rejecting the 50-period moving average. That technical level matters because the latest selloff weakened an earlier bullish setup. XRP previously held expectations of a move toward $1.70-$1-78, but analyst Diana said the loss of $1.34 pushed the token toward $1.26.

The $1.24-$1.26 zone is now being watched, with $1.14 to $1.10 and then $1.00 entering the discussion if support fails.

The drop in derivatives exposure also comes after XRP’s earlier surge, with 85 new wallets holding at least 1 million XRP appearing two days before the August 17-21 rally that saw the token jump 70%.