XRP Leverage Plunges 15% as Big Holders Stay Put

XRP's leverage has dropped by 15% as big holders remain on the sidelines, according to data from CryptoQuant. The XRP/USD pair is currently trading around 5% below its six-month high of $1.572. Whale balances in XRP have remained largely unchanged over the past week, with around 3.9 billion XRP held by large investors. However, derivatives positioning has cooled, with Binance XRP open interest falling to $521.5 million, down 15.3% from its six-month high of $616.1 million on September 22.

Ali Martinez, a crypto chart analyst, notes that traders may have reduced leveraged long exposure heading into quarter-end rather than aggressively selling spot XRP. Long liquidations on Binance averaged $3.72 million per day from September 24 through September 29, about 2.6 times the six-month daily average of $1.43 million. Funding rates and the estimated leverage ratio have also declined, but remain above their six-month averages.

The data suggests that XRP is undergoing a positioning reset rather than showing a decisive directional signal. Binance XRP reserves have averaged 2.68 billion XRP over the past seven days, 2.4% above their 90-day baseline, while network transactions have averaged 1.96 million, up 23% week over week.