XRP traded near $1.40 by Oct. 11 following a brief recovery from a leverage wipeout, even as spot turnover on Binance fell 78.6% over a two-day period. Data streamed by market analytics provider XRPL.to shows that futures traders suffered $40.70 million in long liquidations between Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 before contract exposure began a slow recovery.
- XRPL.to recorded $40.70 million in total long liquidations across Binance, Bybit, and OKX on Oct. 7–8, compared to $1.72 million in short liquidations.
- Binance spot volume for the XRP/USDT pair dropped from 252.45 million USDT on Oct. 8 to 54.12 million USDT on Oct. 10.
- Open interest on Binance and Bybit picked up on Oct. 11, adding 3.72 million XRP (+1.3%) and 6.46 million XRP (+3.3%) respectively from the previous midnight.
- Eight-hour funding rates returned to positive territory by Oct. 11, reaching 0.005908% on Binance and 0.003203% on Bybit.
Liquidations Flush Out Leverage Across Derivative Books
The market leverage flush fell heavily on bullish positions. Of the $40.70 million in long liquidations collected by XRPL.to across the three exchanges, Binance accounted for $24.69 million, followed by Bybit at $11.65 million and OKX at $4.36 million.
This liquidation burst significantly reduced open contract counts. Between 00:00 UTC on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, Binance XRPUSDT open interest dropped from 321.40 million to 295.47 million XRP—an 8.1% reduction representing 25.93 million XRP. Bybit experienced a 6.6% drop, falling from 211.92 million to 197.90 million XRP. Measured in dollar value, Binance's open interest contract value shrank 10.7%, falling from $456.53 million to $407.60 million over the same single-day window.
Spot Activity Fades as Funding Rates Turn Positive
By Oct. 11 midnight, futures exposure showed signs of rebuilding. Binance added 3.72 million XRP (+1.3%) from the previous midnight to reach 297.75 million XRP, while Bybit added 6.46 million XRP (+3.3%) to reach 201.00 million XRP. Despite the additions, open interest levels remained lower than on Oct. 8 by 7.4% on Binance and 5.2% on Bybit.
In contrast to the rebuilding derivative interest, spot market trading slowed considerably. Daily trading volume for XRP/USDT on Binance fell from 252.45 million USDT on Oct. 8 to 120.39 million USDT on Oct. 9, reaching 54.12 million USDT on Oct. 10. Buyer-initiated trade shares also weakened on Binance spot, falling from 51.8% on Oct. 9 to 43.1% on Oct. 10, even as the closing price edged up 1.6% from 1.3805 USDT to 1.4024 USDT. Meanwhile, eight-hour funding rates shifted positive after turning negative on Oct. 9 (-0.0173% on Binance and -0.0163% on Bybit), with Oct. 11 snapshot quotes registering 0.005908% on Binance, 0.003203% on Bybit, and 0.005818% on OKX.
These market shifts come alongside broader corporate developments in the ecosystem, such as Evernorth preparing a Nasdaq listing backed by a 473 million XRP treasury.
Why It Matters
The divergence between rising derivative funding rates and plunging spot trading volume highlights a fragile price recovery driven primarily by leverage rather than organic spot accumulation. Without sustained buyer-initiated spot volume on major venues like Binance to absorb derivative expansion, XRP remains vulnerable to secondary liquidation cascades if upward momentum falters. Market participants should monitor whether spot volume stabilizes near key resistance levels or if positive funding rates impose unsustainable carrying costs on long positions.
