New reports reveal that XRP’s Open Interest (OI) Z-Score has declined to extremely low levels, indicating reduced speculation and a possible leverage reset. According to analysts, the last time XRP’s OI Z-Score reached this level, it triggered an explosive 600% rally to new highs in 2024, ending the cryptocurrency’s years-long decline and consolidation.
XRP Open Interest Z-Score Declines To Near Zero
Market analyst Xaif Crypto has taken to X to highlight a major shift in XRP’s leverage conditions across the futures market. According to the analyst, derivatives activity has cooled down sharply as Open Interest has returned to a neutral baseline.
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Sharing a chart, Xaif Crypto noted that XRP’s Open Interest Z-Score has now flattened near zero, signaling that current positioning among traders is no longer stretched or extreme compared to historical levels. The analyst revealed that this decline suggests that speculation has faded from the market, with leverage also significantly reduced. The shift also points to a reset in XRP’s market structure, where activity is now more balanced and less driven by crowd positioning or heavy bets in different directions.
Interestingly, Xaif Crypto has compared the move to a historical setup, noting that the last time XRP’s OI Z-Score compressed to similar levels, the market entered a strong expansion phase, triggering a massive price rally. During that period in 2024, XRP climbed from $0.50 to $3.40, rallying by more than 600% before momentum cooled.
Notably, the price surge followed years of decline and consolidation in XRP around the $0.50 area. The cryptocurrency spent most of 2024 trading between $0.40 and $0.70 while the U.S. SEC lawsuit dragged on. The lawsuit was filed in December 2020, keeping XRP suppressed for nearly five years before final settlement in 2025. Once sentiment shifted, XRP surged over 400% in November 2024 alone, jumping from $0.50 to above $2.5. It then pushed past $3.40 by January 2025 before climbing toward $3.6 in July, just shy of its $3.84 all-time high.
OI And Leverage Drop Signals Potential Price Surge
In a connected post, Xaif Crypto noted that XRP’s Open Interest has been steadily declining since a previous blow-off phase in November 2025. As a result, OI is now almost flat across major crypto exchanges, including Binance, ByBit, and OKX, suggesting that fewer traders are currently using borrowed money to bet on XRP’s price direction.
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Xaif Crypto also pointed out that leverage levels are now at an extreme low, with Binance’s estimated leverage ratio dropping to around 0.15. This indicates that traders are avoiding taking large, risky bets at the moment. He noted that the market is currently in a calm phase, with most aggressive trading already cleared out.
According to the analyst, this kind of low activity often appears before major market moves. With less leverage in the system, there is reduced selling pressure but also less momentum in the market. However, this also means that when new traders return, the XRP price could move up quickly.
Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com