XRP Defies Gravity as Traders Pile Back In—Wall Street Still Won’t Get It

XRP’s price action shrugs off sell-side pressure as liquidity hunters swarm back into the sixth-largest crypto. The Ripple-affiliated token posted 11% weekly gains despite SEC-induced PTSD lingering since 2020.

Chartists point to reclaimed support at $0.55—a level that previously crumbled during January’s market-wide liquidation cascade. On-chain data shows whales accumulating at these levels, betting regulators will eventually tire of chasing crypto’s jurisdictional shell game.

Meanwhile, traditional finance clings to its ’too risky’ narrative—right between denying Bitcoin ETFs and missing the next 100x altcoin rally. Some things never change.

XRP Open Interest Rebounds as Traders Re-Enter the Market

Open interest, defined as the total number of active futures contracts not yet settled—serves as a gauge for market engagement. When open interest increases alongside price, it often suggests rising speculative participation. 

In XRP’s case, the data shows a sharp rebound from a previous $530 million low to a higher range, suggesting a recovery in market confidence after a significant drop from its $1.5 billion peak.

BorisVest also analyzed Binance funding rates, which reflect the cost of maintaining long or short positions in perpetual futures. These rates become positive when long positions dominate and negative when short interest prevails. 

During XRP’s recent correction, the funding rate turned negative, indicating an influx of short positions and setting up conditions for a possible short squeeze. A short squeeze occurs when short sellers are forced to buy back their positions due to rising prices, often resulting in rapid upward price movements. 

Currently, the funding rate is neutral, suggesting equilibrium between bullish and bearish positions, though subtle signals point to increasing short exposure.

Taker Sell Pressure Meets Steady Price: Signs of Absorption?

Another metric underlined in the analysis is the Taker Buy/Sell Ratio. This indicator compares the volume of aggressive buy orders (market buys) against sell orders (market sells). A ratio below 1 implies that sellers are more aggressive. 

In this case, XRP’s Taker Buy/Sell Ratio stands at 0.91, meaning selling pressure dominates. However, the absence of significant price declines despite the pressure implies potential absorption by larger players, which can be a precursor to bullish price movements.

The combination of rising open interest, neutral funding rates, and sustained price levels despite sell pressure suggests that XRP may be experiencing silent accumulation. While the market remains indecisive, these patterns are often observed in the early stages of a trend reversal or breakout.

As speculative activity picks up, it could be worth monitoring these signals closely for further confirmation. Whether this leads to a continuation of XRP’s rally or not, the current data points to a market that is actively recalibrating, and possibly preparing for the next phase in price action.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView