XRP open interest is still struggling to recover after Glassnode said perpetual futures positioning suffered a 71% collapse in early last October, a sign that speculative appetite remains weak even as spot trading firms.
Glassnode details the two-step wipeout in XRP leverage
In a post on X, Glassnode said XRP perpetual futures open interest fell from 7B XRP to 2B XRP during the early-October deleveraging event, marking the sharp break that reset leverage across the market.
Glassnode added that open interest then dropped another 25% to 1.5B XRP, which means the initial shock was followed by a second leg lower rather than a fast rebuild in speculative exposure. The firm framed the move as continued compression, not a regulatory or issuer-driven event.
That distinction matters because this is a derivatives-positioning story, not a new filing or issuer policy change. The original Glassnode post below is the clearest proof of the staged decline it described.
Following the aggressive deleveraging event in early October 2025, which saw perpetual OI collapse from 7B to 2B XRP (−71%), positioning has continued to compress. OI has since declined a further 25% to 1.5B XRP.
The market has yet to rebuild speculative exposure, signaling… https://t.co/nFKEFvTtsK pic.twitter.com/wmeuLkvwgs— glassnode (@glassnode) April 13, 2026
Glassnode on X.
XRP futures have bounced a little, but not enough to change the picture
CoinGlass shows aggregate XRP futures open interest at 1.86B XRP, or about $2.56B, with a 6.20% 24-hour increase. That daily uptick is small beside the much larger contraction in the Glassnode data, so the rebound still looks thin.
XRP traded at $1.37, up 3.57% over 24 hours, while 24-hour volume reached about $2.93B. CoinGecko’s XRP market cap reading was about $84.24B, which adds scale to the spot activity but does not yet show the kind of leverage rebuild that would erase the derivatives drawdown.
The cautious backdrop fits a broader market still reacting to shifting macro narratives, even as Bitcoin price soared toward $75,000 amid potential US-Iran de-escalation. For XRP watchers, that sits alongside separate policy and payments angles in FedNow cross-border proposal raises XRP payment questions and Sen. Thom Tillis to release a stablecoin yield draft this week.
Sentiment still leans defensive
The Fear & Greed Index stood at 21, labeled Extreme Fear, which supports Glassnode’s view that the market has not rebuilt speculative exposure. Any claim that traders turned cautious specifically because of geopolitics should still be treated as unconfirmed, because that explanation appears only in a single unverified report.
For now, the combined read from Glassnode’s staged open-interest decline, CoinGlass’s current positioning data, and XRP’s spot market baseline points to a market that is trading, but still reluctant to put heavy leverage back on.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
