XRP slipped below $1 for the first time since November 2024, touching as low as $0.99 on Aug. 11. The token first crossed $1 on Nov. 16, 2024, and peaked at $3.42 in July 2025, so the round-number breakdown marks a clear shift in sentiment. The move comes as derivatives traders load up on shorts and spot selling pressure intensifies.
Open interest swings back up
Binance's 7-day change in XRP open interest swung from -13% on Aug. 1 to +7.4% by Aug. 11. That's a $171 million increase, or 20.5%, according to CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartunn. Total futures open interest now sits around $2.69 billion, with 24-hour futures turnover near $2.17 billion.
The positioning data tells a bearish story. XRP's long-to-short account ratio stands at 0.8432, with 45.7% of accounts long and 54.3% short. That's a notable skew toward shorts, especially after the price already fell below a key psychological level.
Spot and perpetual flows diverge
Binance perpetual cumulative volume delta (CVD) fell from -$251 million to -$349.5 million by Aug. 11, meaning aggressive sellers have dominated the perp market. Spot CVD across centralized exchanges dropped from roughly $193 million to -$34.3 million, a reversal of about $227 million. Both metrics point to sustained selling pressure rather than a one-off flush.
The derivatives market has thinned out considerably since January. XRP derivatives volume reached $5.93 billion on Jan. 5, with open interest around $3.86 billion. By Aug. 5, futures volume had fallen to about $1.35 billion and open interest to $2.25 billion. The recent build in open interest is happening on a much smaller base.
Thin order books worry traders
XRP commentator Vincent Van Code flagged that Binance's 24-hour XRP volume had fallen to roughly $68 million, down from levels above $1 billion. He estimated that just $4 million of sell orders could push XRP toward 95 cents. That's a stark illustration of how shallow liquidity has become.
Coreum bridge moves tokens
On Aug. 9, the XRPL account used by the Coreum bridge sent 199,916.3 XRP to two newly created wallets across 94 payments. The account's balance dropped from about 200,000 XRP to 493.5 XRP. The transfers don't appear to be exchange deposits, but they add another layer of uncertainty to an already fragile market.
The question now is whether the short positioning gets crowded enough to trigger a squeeze, or whether thin books let sellers walk the price down to 95 cents as Van Code warned. The next few sessions will show which side blinks first.
