Rising open interest in XRP has crypto watchers optimistic that the crypto’s protracted downtrend is nearing its end. XRP’s open interest recently jumped to over $1 billion, leading to speculations over whether a huge price jump is the next probable move.
Notably, the skyrocketing OI comes amid rising expectations for Ripple’s upcoming RLUSD stablecoin that is currently being tested in private beta on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
XRP Open Interest Tops $1 Billion
Ripple-affiliated XRP has seen a rise in future traders hedging their bets on the asset’s price. There’s presently high optimism surrounding XRP amid key developments in the Ripple ecosystem, including minting massive amounts of RLUSD.
480,000 #RLUSD minted at RLUSD Treasury.https://t.co/i9qvAsCdkl
— Ripple Stablecoin Tracker (@RL_Tracker) September 29, 2024
The minting could suggest that the testing phase might conclude or proceed into a more active deployment phase, which has sparked buzz around the forthcoming U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.
Ripple has previously reiterated its commitment to using both XRP and RLUSD for international settlements, quashing rumors that the San Francisco-based company would abandon XRP to focus on its new stablecoin fully.
According to Coinglass data, open interest in XRP recently jumped to over $1 billion. The last time XRP’s open interest reached these levels was in March and June last year. OI refers to the total number of derivative contracts that have not been settled, such as options or futures. A surge in OI implies greater confidence among traders in predicting XRP’s price direction, whether up or down.
Crypto exchange Bybit leads the charge with a positive XRP OI of $319.59 million. Binance takes the second spot with a $311 million volume, while Bitget comes in third with $199 million.
Hopes For XRP Recovery
The price of XRP has gained 2.2.% in 24 hours to change hands for $0.5356 as of press time as Bitcoin rebounded back above $62,000 after the U.S. government reported the addition of 254,000 jobs in September, bringing the unemployment rate down to 4.1%. Following the strong economic report, BTC surged by approximately 2.7%.
However, both cryptocurrencies have experienced declines over the past week, with Bitcoin down 5.5% and XRP down 9.1%, according to data from CoinGecko.
Analysts have suggested that the market sentiment around XRP has been largely positive. They point to technical and fundamental factors like a breakout from a symmetrical triangle, a potential spot XRP ETF, and other bullish indicators suggesting strong momentum for further XRP price growth.
