XRP Gets a Leverage Liposuction: Open Interest Drops $1.93B as Bagholders Wince

XRP's price trajectory is looking a lot like a market detox, courtesy of plunging open interest and a gut-punch of realized losses. The token has now given back over 60% of the gains from its 2025 peak, a classic case of "what the bull giveth, the bear taketh away."

Open interest is bleeding out across major venues like Binance, Bybit, and Kraken. This signals a market-wide leverage-ectomy, where traders are closing positions, de-risking, and watching speculative liquidity flee the scene. This kind of contraction isn't necessarily a death knell—sometimes price needs to purge degenerate leverage before it can find its feet again, like a crypto cleanse after a festival season.

As of now, XRP is changing hands at $1.39, nursing a 5.4% loss on the day. It's down a brutal 27% over the past week and a sobering 38% year-over-year. This represents a 62% haircut from its glorious, and now distant, all-time high of $3.65 in July 2025.

The price action has been a rollercoaster stuck mostly on the descent. There were fleeting moments of hope, like a roughly 6% pump fueled by institutional spot interest and the ever-present ETF rumor mill. Those rallies proved to be nothing more than dead cat bounces, with selling pressure swiftly returning to continue the downtrend from the $2.60–$2.80 zone.

On-chain metrics paint a vivid, if painful, picture. XRP just recorded its largest spike in realized losses since the crypto ice age of 2022. The last time weekly realized losses neared this $1.93 billion mark, the asset proceeded to rally over 100% in the ensuing months. These massive loss events happen when a chorus of holders finally capitulate and sell below their cost basis. The silver lining? Selling pressure often eases once the weak hands have been shaken out, and history suggests these points can signal a major sentiment shift.

On the daily chart, XRP remains firmly in a downtrend, painting a consistent series of lower highs since late 2025. Lately, however, the mood has shifted from panic-selling red candles to a tense consolidation within a narrow range, like traders collectively holding their breath.

The Bollinger Bands, which gaped wide during the sell-off, are starting to pinch together. Price is loitering near the 20-day moving average at $1.41, suggesting a fragile equilibrium. The Relative Strength Index has crawled out of oversold territory but remains below the 50 midline, indicating the bulls haven't yet mustered a convincing charge.

This all points to a volatility squeeze brewing, which typically precedes a significant expansion in price movement. The $1.50–$1.55 area is the crucial resistance zone to watch. A decisive daily close above it would break the pattern of lower highs and could open the path toward $1.65 and maybe even $1.80.

If the squeeze goes the other way, $1.33 is the immediate support to watch. Below that, the $1.28–$1.30 zone forms the structural floor, recently tested in a liquidity sweep.