XRP reached an intraday high of $1.60 on 22 September as reported trading volume rose to about $7.4bn, but regulated derivatives data suggests the move was accompanied by a major repositioning on CME rather than a broad shift across futures markets.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said leveraged funds had reduced their net short position in CME XRP futures by the equivalent of 46.3 million XRP in the week to 15 September. A net short means reported short contracts outnumber reported long contracts.
The same category reduced its combined net short across three Coinbase Derivatives products by only 2.452 million XRP, leaving it short about 141.6 million XRP.
However, the timing means the figures cannot establish that the positioning changes caused the later rally. The positions were recorded on 15 September and published on 18 September, four days before the price and volume figures for 22 September.
CME move far larger than Coinbase shift
Each standard CME future represents 50,000 XRP. On 15 September, leveraged funds held 1,585 long contracts and 2,304 short contracts, producing a net short of 719 contracts, or 35.95 million XRP.
A week earlier, the category held 1,280 longs and 2,925 shorts. That amounted to 1,645 contracts net short, equivalent to 82.25 million XRP. The weekly change therefore reduced the position by 926 contracts, or 46.3 million XRP.
The adjustment reflected both sides of the market. Long positions increased by 305 contracts, while shorts fell by 621. Open interest also declined by 509 contracts, equivalent to 25.45 million XRP, a combination consistent with traders closing positions even as leveraged funds added some longs.
Coinbase’s changes were considerably smaller. Its standard future represents 10,000 XRP per contract, while the products listed as NANO XRP and NANO XRP PERP STYLE in the CFTC data each represent 500 XRP.
The Coinbase standard contract saw the net short fall from 132.17 million XRP on 8 September to 128.52 million on 15 September, a reduction of 3.65 million XRP. NANO XRP fell from 0.9945 million to 0.9025 million, a change of 92,000 XRP.
By contrast, the NANO XRP PERP STYLE position became 1.290 million XRP more short, rising from 10.902 million to 12.192 million. Across all three Coinbase products, the net short declined from 144.0665 million XRP to 141.6145 million.
That aggregate remained nearly four times the CME net short on 15 September and changed by only a fraction as much.
The perpetual-style product is a regulated, five-year cash-settled future using funding adjustments, rather than an unexpiring swap commonly found on offshore exchanges. Its positioning may therefore represent a different combination of traders and strategies.
What the data shows
CFTC leveraged funds are classified according to their predominant self-reported business activity. The report also records mechanical spreading positions, but neither category reveals the purpose of every trade.
A short can represent a bearish view, a hedge against spot holdings, an offsetting derivative or one side of a basis trade. Closing a short may indicate a bullish adjustment, a hedge change, a relative-value unwind or a wider reduction in risk.
The clearest conclusion is that leveraged funds became much less short on CME. The data does not prove that the entire move represented fresh directional buying or that it caused XRP’s subsequent rise.
The comparison covers four contract families in the dated CFTC query, while CME lists Micro XRP separately. CFTC rules require at least 20 traders to meet reporting levels before a market appears in the Commitments of Traders report, so activity in an unlisted product may remain unknown.
CFTC reports generally reflect positions held on Tuesday and are released on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. The agency’s tentative 2026 schedule lists 25 September for the report normally covering 22 September.
That release will indicate whether the split between CME and Coinbase persisted during the rally. A broader directional change would be more convincing if Coinbase’s combined net short fell materially, particularly alongside rising open interest. For now, the evidence shows three separate facts: XRP rallied, CME leveraged funds had already cut a substantial net short, and comparable Coinbase positioning had changed little overall.
