XRP Gets the Cold Shoulder as Traders Chase Greener Pastures – Here’s Why

XRP, once a darling of the crypto markets, is now watching from the sidelines as capital floods into flashier assets. Traders are voting with their wallets—and Ripple’s token isn’t making the cut.

The liquidity exodus: With no major catalysts on the horizon, XRP’s price action has turned glacial. Meanwhile, altcoins with stronger narratives (or shinier marketing) are sucking up all the oxygen.

Regulatory hangover: The SEC lawsuit’s shadow still looms—never mind that Ripple scored partial wins. In crypto, perception often trumps reality, and institutional money has shorter memories than a goldfish.

Where’s the utility? While Ripple touts bank partnerships, traders care about one thing: price appreciation. And right now, XRP’s chart looks about as exciting as a banker’s spreadsheet.

Funny how ‘decentralized’ finance still follows the oldest rule in the book: money flows where the hype grows. Maybe XRP should hire a meme manager.

Source: TradingView (XRP/BTC)

That selloff really drives the point home. While the big names are still holding onto their gains from the (May 8-13 window) when Bitcoin [BTC] ranged near $103k, Ripple has already given back all its gains against Bitcoin.

No surprise, it’s stuck in a tight range below $2.50. 

Even with 2,524 fresh whale wallets (holding 10k+ XRP) added during the same timeframe, pushing total whale count to a record 302,197, the price barely budged.

Bottom line? Accumulation is happening, but it’s not translating into momentum, yet.

Derivatives dodge XRP, bets elsewhere

Ripple’s epic November rally last year capped off Q4 with a staggering 266% ROI, earning it the crown as the “best performing asset.”

But behind the scenes, it wasn’t just spot traders cashing in. Instead, derivatives were the real rocket fuel. 

By mid-January, XRP’s Open Interest (OI) blasted off to an all-time high NEAR $8 billion, perfectly syncing with its $3.40 yearly peak. Since then, OI has settled into a range between $3 and $5 billion, showing the market cooling off.

Source: Coinglass

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s OI hit a record $33 billion on the 23rd of May, adding nearly $13.5 billion just this month. solana [SOL] is closing in on its $8.57 billion peak, adding nearly $3 billion in May alone.

The message is loud and clear: Futures liquidity and trader attention have rotated hard into alternative assets, leaving XRP stuck on the sidelines, gasping for momentum.

Unless rotational and speculative capital rotate back into XRP’s corner, the token could stay range-bound.

Even with solid fundamentals, while its rivals keep pushing new highs against BTC, Ripple might just stay off the main action for now.