XRP Futures Market Splits as Bybit Open Interest Drops Near $1.20

XRP’s move toward the $1.20 area triggered a clear leverage reset in derivatives markets, but the pressure was not evenly distributed across exchanges.

The strongest signal came from Bybit, where XRP open interest contracted sharply as price weakened.

This suggests that traders on Bybit were aggressively reducing exposure, either through voluntary position closures or forced deleveraging during the latest downside move.

What makes the setup more interesting is that Binance did not show the same behavior.

While Bybit saw a sharp drop in open interest, Binance recorded an increase of around $20 million on June 2. This creates a split market structure: Bybit traders appear to be cutting risk, while Binance traders are still adding or maintaining exposure.

From May 21 to June 3, Bybit’s XRP open interest fell from $283 million to $216 million, a decline of $67 million, or nearly 24%.

The 7-day open interest change also showed heavy negative readings on Bybit, reaching approximately -$61 million on June 2 and -$56 million on June 3 as XRP traded near $1.20.

The open interest delta confirms the same pattern.

Bybit posted three consecutive negative readings, ranging between roughly -$13 million and -$23 million, showing that position closures were not a one-off event but part of a broader deleveraging phase.

This matters because falling open interest during a price decline usually points to leverage leaving the market.

For now, the key takeaway is that XRP derivatives are not showing a uniform exit from the market. Instead, Bybit is carrying most of the deleveraging pressure, while Binance remains more resilient. This divergence makes the $1.20 area an important level to watch, as it may decide whether the current move becomes a healthy leverage reset or the beginning of broader downside pressure.

Written by Amr Taha