The Ripple (XRP) derivatives market showed its strongest monthly trading flow in six months. CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain reported via crypto outlet CoinGabbar that XRP futures trading volume on major exchanges reached a six-month high in August.

$64.6 Billion in Futures Trading Volume

By exchange, Binance's XRP futures trading volume totaled approximately $37 billion. According to CoinGabbar, this accounts for about 57% of the total volume of the top three listed exchanges. Bybit followed with $14.54 billion, and OKX recorded $12.88 billion. The combined trading volume of the three exchanges exceeded $64.6 billion, which CoinGabbar identified as a key liquidity signal investors should watch. Notably, this figure is not limited to a specific exchange but indicates that liquidity is flowing back into the XRP market.

Price movement was also a background factor. According to CoinGabbar, XRP started August (local time) at around $1.06 and rose roughly 30% to about $1.50 intraday on the 24th of that month, settling at around $1.35 by month's end. CoinGabbar explained that futures trading tends to pick up first when an asset's price moves sharply, since futures markets allow leveraged bets on price direction, hedging of spot holdings, and faster trading of price movements than ETF creation and redemption cycles.

Spot Trading Also Recovered... Upbit and Bithumb Among Top Ranks

A similar trend appeared in the spot market. According to CryptoQuant data cited by CoinGabbar, XRP spot trading volume in August also hit a six-month high. Binance led with about $7.28 billion, followed by Korea's Upbit with about $4.68 billion and Bithumb with about $2.59 billion. CoinGabbar noted that XRP historically reacted strongly in the Korean market to liquidity changes, and analyzed that the simultaneous recovery of futures and spot volumes is a stronger signal of market participation than futures activity alone.

CME Overtakes Binance in Open Interest

The volume increase also coincides with structural changes in the XRP futures market. According to CoinGabbar's September 1 report (local time), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) overtook Binance to become the exchange with the largest XRP futures open interest. CME's open interest stood at about $530 million, while Binance's was about $510 million. CoinGabbar reported that while offshore exchanges still dominate actual trading volume, regulated exchanges lead in open interest, a difference that reflects institutional investors' moves.

Not a Confirmed Bull Market... Risk Factors Remain

However, some analysts note that increased volume does not necessarily mean rising prices. According to CryptoQuant analysis by Arab Chain cited by CoinGabbar, a surge in futures volume alone cannot confirm a bull market. High volume could also result from closing long or short positions, building new short positions, or increased two-way market-making trades amid the roughly 30% price swing range. CoinGabbar emphasized the need to distinguish between trading volume and actual investor positions.

Expanding leverage was also cited as a risk factor. According to CoinGabbar's earlier report, after XRP rose 44%, Binance's estimated leverage ratio climbed to 0.213, the highest in seven months. At the time, open interest was concentrated at around $3.4–3.5 billion and skewed toward longs, which CoinGabbar described as a risk factor to be examined alongside the volume surge.

Institutional Investment, Supply, and Network Upgrades

Institutional investors remain active. According to CoinGabbar, Citadel expanded positions betting on XRP ETF gains in the second quarter, and Goldman Sachs again became the largest XRP ETF holder. Total assets under management for XRP spot ETFs stand at about $1.48 billion, with cumulative inflows approaching $1.7 billion. However, inflows of this scale do not directly generate the $64.6 billion monthly futures volume; CoinGabbar explained that such capital flows give trading participants reason to hold XRP and trade to reduce risk.

On the supply side, Ripple locked up 700 million XRP again following its scheduled monthly escrow release. CoinGabbar noted that this escrow management reduces short-term selling pressure. Additionally, with the U.S. Senate's cloture vote on the CLARITY Act scheduled for September 15 (local time), growing institutional positions warrant attention. Amendments related to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) 3.3.0 upgrade are also progressing toward mainnet activation in mid-September. CoinGabbar explained that these factors keep XRP an asset that derivatives traders continue to watch in terms of products, policy, and liquidity.

[This article is by no means investment advice. The content may reflect opinions only, so please do not use it as a reference or material for investment decisions. All investments are made at each individual's own judgment, and the final responsibility lies with the investor. This publication assumes no responsibility.]