Outside Source
XRP’s open interest has increased by $6 billion since the start of the month as the altcoin soared to new all-time highs.
Market Analysis
XRP (XRP) price has entered a price discovery period for the first time since 2017. The altcoin has exhibited a three-month consecutive green candle for only the second time in its history, with the current streak far more significant than the period between March and May 2017.
XRP 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
While the altcoin has attained a new all-time high on certain exchanges, a break above $3.40 will confirm a clear all-time high.
XRP’s open interest rose by $6 billion in 16 days
XRP’s open interest (OI) has reached a new all-time high of $7.9 billion, with the OI increasing by 27.34% over the past 24 hours. The futures volume has doubled at the same time, currently at $42.87 billion, according to CoinGlass data.
XRP futures open interest. Source: CoinGlass
Since Jan. 1, XRP’s open interest has increased by 300%, jumping from $1.92 billion at the beginning of 2025. The common assumption here would be that the futures market has played a vital role in XRP’s parabolic rise. However, that has not been the case.
Dom, an onchain analyst, continued to shed light on the fact that XRP’s rally is “spot driven.” When comparing spot cumulative volumes delta (CVD) and perpetual CVD, Dom said that both indicators had an indirect correlation. Dom said,
“Perps have faded every single pump and jumped into shorts on every since pullback.”
The above statement was further verified with futures data analysis. As observed, the funding rate remained constant in January, whereas it increased rapidly during XRP’s initial rally in November 2024.
XRP aggregated funding rate and spot volumes, premium on open interest. Source: Velo.data
On the other hand, aggregated spot volumes registered an uptick, which validated Dom’s argument about XRP’s rally being spot-driven. Furthermore, a negative aggregated premium on open interest implied that the futures market has continued to bid against an XRP price rise. This means the current situation is a tussle between bullish spots and bearish perps.
Related: XRP price to $10–$50 ‘plausible’ if spot ETF approved, ChatGPT says
XRP exchange reserve on the rise
Amid the market euphoria, it is important to note that the XRP exchange reserve has slowly increased over the past few weeks. Data from CryptoQuant identified that XRP reserves on Binance have increased by 10% since Dec. 16. Earlier in November, the reserves dropped rapidly when XRP’s price was breaking out.
XRP exchange reserve on Binance. Source: CryptoQuant
This implied that profit-taking is also evident among investors, but the exchange reserves are still under the 2024 yearly average.
Meanwhile, Santiment, a data analytics platform, highlighted that XRP whale activity has risen to its highest level in six weeks. In an X post, the analytics website mentioned,
“We have just seen 2,365 $100K+ XRP transactions in the latest 8-hour span, the highest spike since December 34th. Total holders are also skyrocketing.”
Related: Bitcoin price slips 3%, ignores US jobs beat as XRP sees all-time high
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
