Binance traders are now holding more XRP in open futures contracts than they were before the US Senate rejected the CLARITY Act on 15 September, despite the cryptocurrency remaining about 65% below its all-time high.
Open interest measures the total number of futures contracts that have not yet been closed and is widely used as an indicator of the leverage traders are prepared to maintain. On Binance, XRP open interest stood at 304.4 million XRP at 18:00 UTC on 15 September, shortly before the Senate’s 49-50 cloture vote halted the CLARITY Act.
XRP fell from $1.40 to $1.29 during the following two hours. Traders then reduced their positions, with open interest reaching a low of 285.2 million XRP at midnight UTC on 17 September.
Later that day, Bitcoin.com News reported that Cryptoquant had recorded an approximately 32% decline in Binance XRP open interest since 22 August.
The market subsequently recovered. By 04:00 UTC on 18 September, open interest had risen to 307.7 million XRP, putting it around 1% above the level recorded before the Senate vote.
The figure, first highlighted by analyst CW8900, is higher when measured in XRP but not in US dollar terms. The positions were worth $414.7 million at the later point, compared with $427.6 million before the vote, because XRP’s price has fallen.
Institutional investors have continued to put money into XRP products. Franklin’s XRPZ exchange-traded fund (ETF) recorded inflows of $3.5 million on 16 September, accounting for all XRP ETF inflows that day.
By contrast, bitcoin and ether ETFs experienced combined outflows of $520 million after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by a quarter point. It was the central bank’s first rate increase since July 2023.
Bitcoin has also strengthened during the same period, rising from about $76,400 to $77,800. XRP gained roughly 3% over 24 hours and was trading near $1.33, although that remains a modest recovery after a 57% decline over the past year.
Five XRP Ledger addresses created only about a day earlier now each hold 100 million XRP.
