XRP touched an intraday high of $1.60 on September 22 near $7.4 billion in volume, a tape that resembles a short squeeze. CFTC data shows leveraged funds cut their CME net short position by 46.3 million XRP, even as Coinbase's futures books stayed short roughly 141.6 million XRP.
XRP tagged an intraday high of $1.60 on September 22, with reported trading volume near $7.4 billion. The tape looks like a short squeeze.
Separately, XRP rose 6.78% to $1.62, outperforming the broader crypto market as it broke above the $1.60 resistance level and traders rotated into altcoins.
CME Deleverages While Coinbase Books Stay Short
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data for the week ended September 15 shows leveraged funds cutting their CME net short by 46.3 million XRP. On CME's standard XRP futures contract, sized at 50,000 XRP per contract, leveraged funds moved from a net short of 82.25 million XRP on September 8 to 35.95 million XRP on September 15, with most of the reduction coming from covering shorts and some new longs added.
CME open interest still fell by about 25.45 million XRP, which points to risk coming off rather than a rotation into new longs. That shift follows CME overtaking Binance as the largest XRP futures venue by open interest in early September, with CME open interest near $530 million versus Binance's $510 million.
Coinbase tells a different story. Its standard XRP futures book improved slightly, down 3.65 million XRP in net short exposure. But its nano perpetual-style product added 1.29 million XRP in short exposure. Combined across all three Coinbase products, leveraged funds stayed short roughly 141.6 million XRP.
ETF Inflows Offset Rising Exchange Reserves
Spot XRP ETFs have taken in more than $1.7 billion in cumulative net inflows, giving the rally a layer of institutional support that prior cycles lacked. Yet XRP whale inflows to Binance hit 1.6 billion tokens over 30 days, the highest since March. Rising exchange reserves alongside price is a volatility flag, not proof of an imminent dump, but it counterweighs the ETF bid.
Next CFTC Print Due September 25
Peter Brandt flagged a longer-cycle path toward $5, while Ali Martinez marked $1.60 as a key supply shelf where about 2.50 billion XRP previously changed hands. A high-volume print through that level is notable, but supply zones are tested, not retired, on the first touch.
CME also sued the CFTC after Kalshi launched Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and HYPE perpetual futures, a dispute that matters for how institutional books get allocated across US-regulated XRP futures venues going forward.
The next CFTC print, covering the week through the $1.60 spike, is due around September 25, and it will show whether CME short covering continued or the venue split with Coinbase widened. Traders are also watching whether XRP holds the $1.52 support level.
Sources: CoinGape, Coinpedia Fintech News (snippet-based)
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