XRP advanced from roughly $1.30 on Sept. 16 to about $1.52 by Sept. 27, a gain of around 17%, even as positioning and taker flow remained notably bearish.

Over the same period, Binance open interest climbed from about $210M to $276.5M, an increase of roughly 32%.

At the same time, Binance Perpetual CVD deteriorated from around -$1.0B to -$1.29B, indicating that aggressive sell-side activity continued to dominate despite the rise in open positions.

The divergence also appeared in spot markets.

All-CEX Estimated Spot CVD declined from roughly -$2.27B to -$2.70B, a further deterioration of about $430M.

This means XRP’s price appreciation occurred while aggressive sellers remained dominant across both Binance perpetuals and the broader CEX spot market.

Rising OI alongside falling perpetual CVD is consistent with new positioning carrying a short-biased tilt, although OI alone cannot identify the direction of every newly opened position.

The key signal is price resilience: bearish taker flow expanded, yet XRP remained well above its Sept. 16 level.

From a contrarian perspective, this type of setup can become constructive if bearish positioning grows crowded.

Heavy short exposure can push funding lower and create latent buying pressure if price continues rising, while persistent spot selling that fails to break price may point to seller exhaustion.

XRP has seen similar conditions before.

In April 2025, deeply negative funding preceded a roughly 65% rally from $1.60 to $2.65, while comparable bearish funding setups in late 2024 were followed by sharp upside rebounds.

Written by Amr Taha