- XRP’s Binance whale-retail spread fell to 35.1%, returning close to its early-May level.
- All-CEX spread stayed higher at 38.4%, showing a wider gap across major crypto exchanges.
- Open interest rose sharply as spot flows plunged, increasing XRP’s liquidation exposure.
A growing divide between derivatives trading and spot participation is shaping XRP’s latest market structure. CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha reported that Binance’s whale-retail spread returned to early-May levels, while the broader exchange reading stayed elevated and leverage increased rapidly.
The Binance Whale vs. Retail Spread fell to 35.1% on July 16, close to the 35.6% recorded on May 3. XRP also traded near $1.10, placing its price and Binance’s seven-day average spread within a similar historical range.
XRP Whale-Retail Gap Widens Across Exchanges
However, conditions across the wider exchange market remained different from those seen near the May bottom. The All-CEX Whale vs. Retail Spread stood at 38.4%, which was 12.4 percentage points above its May 6 low of 26%.
This comparison showed that XRP had returned to a similar price level without restoring the same balance between large and smaller traders. The market-wide activity gap remained wider than it was during the previous low.
The relationship between both indicators also reversed over the period. In early May, Binance’s 35.6% reading stood well above the later All-CEX low, but by July 16, the broader measure had moved 3.3 percentage points above Binance.
The All-CEX spread reached 38.4%, compared with 35.1% on Binance. Analyst said the reversal reflected a change in how whale and retail activity was distributed across centralized trading platforms.
XRP Leverage Rebuilds as Spot Activity Weakens
However, CryptoQuant analysts also identified a rapid change in XRP’s derivatives market between July 13 and July 14. Binance recorded nearly $2.95 million in long liquidations on July 13, while funding rates briefly declined to negative 0.004.
Trading appetite returned one day later as open interest increased by more than $20 million to $424.4 million. The estimated leverage ratio rose to 0.162, while funding rates moved back into positive territory.
The renewed positioning contributed to around $1.02 million in short liquidations on July 14. Despite the rebound in derivatives activity, Binance spot flows did not show a similar increase.
Exchange flows dropped from tens of millions of XRP earlier in the week to only tens of thousands of tokens.
According to analysts, the sequence pointed to a market move driven mainly by leveraged contracts. The July 13 liquidation event removed overextended long positions, but traders quickly rebuilt exposure and triggered a local short squeeze.
Meanwhile, XRP’s on-chain transaction count fell to 1.11 million. That figure was about 25% below the three-month baseline included in the analyst’s data.
The contrast between futures positioning and network activity remained significant. Traders increased leverage and open interest, while spot transfers and on-chain transactions continued to weaken.
Analyst said this structure could lead to choppy and mean-reverting price action. Without stronger spot inflows, the rebuilt leverage may leave XRP vulnerable to another sudden round of liquidations.
A sustained recovery would require broader market participation to support the higher open interest. Until that happens, derivatives trading is likely to remain the main force behind XRP’s short-term price movements.
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