Crypto17 August, 20262 min read
XRP Hovers Near $1 as Futures Open Interest Rises 2% and Leverage Risks Grow
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Futures open interest rose 2% to about $2.78 billion as XRP trades near $1. Binance and OKX traders are heavily long, with longs about 3.6 to 1 over shorts.
8 outlets told this the same way.
Futures OI surges
XRP was hovering around $1 as futures open interest rose 2% over 24 hours to about $2.78 billion and futures trading volume jumped 55% to roughly $1.17 billion on Monday, according to CoinGlass data cited by CoinDesk. CoinDesk said more than three accounts on Binance held long XRP positions for every one holding a short, with the ratio among the exchange's largest traders at about 3.6 to one, and OKX showing the same 3.6-to-one split. The same CoinDesk report tied the risk to leverage, noting that leverage can force traders out automatically if the market moves far enough against them, and warned that a break below $1 could trigger leveraged longs being closed by the exchange.
CoinDesk also reported that onchain activity was picking up, with nearly 50,000 addresses active over one 24-hour stretch, the most in more than two months, per Santiment. CoinDesk added that long-to-short positioning across all venues was close to balanced, with CoinGlass data showing a long-to-short ratio of about 0.93 over 24 hours.
Sentiment turns bearish
Even as futures positioning leaned long, CoinDesk said commentary about XRP across X, Reddit, Telegram and other channels turned its most negative in three months this week, after the token failed to rally. CoinDesk attributed the sentiment shift to Santiment, which it said flagged the deterioration as XRP struggled around $1. The CoinDesk report also described the ledger as getting busier, saying nearly 50,000 addresses were active over one 24-hour stretch, after activity slid close to its 2026 lows in July.
In parallel, DiarioBitcoin framed the $1 level as a resistance that “detiene el rebote,” saying the token was “se aferra a un soporte debilitado en 0,99 dólares” while daily volume fell below 0.7% of its capitalization. DiarioBitcoin also stated that “La persistencia bajista sobre marzo” and the lack of catalysts “abren el riesgo de un nuevo movimiento estructural en el mapa técnico.”
What breaks next
CoinDesk said the market-wide long-to-short ratio across all venues was about 0.93 over 24 hours, but that the heavy long bias sat on Binance, OKX and among their bigger accounts. CoinDesk warned that if XRP breaks below $1, leveraged longs that run out of collateral get closed by the exchange, which could mean selling into the market. CryptoTicker’s market framing put the token “on the edge of $1,” saying XRP was trading at $0.9996 at the time of writing and that it was “Exactly on the line that has defined the token's entire summer.”
CryptoTicker argued that if the $1 level breaks with conviction, “the stops trigger, the liquidations cascade,” and the price “does not stop at the first sign of demand.” CryptoTicker also linked the next downside levels to broader market weakness, stating that if BTC loses its own footing, “XRP does not have a soft landing waiting below,” and pointing to $0.9049 and $0.8052 as next levels.