XRP Futures Surge as Bullish Bets Rise, But Spot Price Stays Steady

While futures traders are leaning increasingly bullish, XRP’s spot price has yet to reflect the same excitement.

On Monday, open interest in XRP perpetual futures across major exchanges briefly surged to 800 million XRP—the highest since January 19—according to data from Velo, which monitors USDT and USD perpetual contracts on Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Hyperliquid.

Currently, cumulative open interest stands at 743 million XRP, representing a 33% increase since June 22, when XRP touched a local low of $1.90.

Open interest captures the total number of active futures contracts and often signals new capital flowing into the market, though it doesn’t reveal whether positions are bullish or bearish.

However, the recent climb in open interest appears fueled by traders placing bullish long bets. Perpetual funding rates have remained consistently positive and have even surpassed the annualized 10% mark at times—an indication that traders are paying a premium to maintain long positions.

In perpetual futures, funding payments occur roughly every eight hours. When bullish sentiment pushes perpetual prices above the spot market, long traders typically pay shorts to keep their positions open.

Adding to the bullish picture is Binance’s “top trader long/short ratio” for the XRP/USDT pair. Coinglass data shows the ratio at 1.90, suggesting there are nearly twice as many long positions as shorts. Traders holding short positions profit when prices decline.

Further optimism was visible last week in Deribit’s options market, where traders were actively targeting higher strike XRP call options.

Despite the futures market’s enthusiasm, XRP’s spot price remains restrained. On Monday, the price briefly touched $2.35—a level unseen since the end of May—before slipping back to $2.25, where it has since hovered without significant volatility.