XRP fell from $1.59 on Aug. 22 to $1.37 on Aug. 31, a decline of roughly 13.8%, while Binance open interest dropped much faster, falling from $323 million to $235.3 million, or about 27.2%.

The sharper contraction in open interest points to a significant reduction in leveraged exposure alongside the price decline.

The move has also erased almost all of the leverage buildup seen earlier in August.

Binance XRP open interest had risen from approximately $232.7 million on Aug. 17 to $323 million on Aug. 22, an increase of about $90 million.

With open interest now back at $235.3 million, roughly 97% of that buildup has been unwound, leaving the metric only slightly above its Aug. 17 level.

At the same time, derivatives order flow continued to deteriorate. Binance Perpetual CVD fell from approximately -$480 million to -$882.1 million between Aug. 22 and Aug. 31, making the negative imbalance roughly 84% larger.

The current reading is also the most negative recorded since July 2026 in the observed data.

Spot activity shows a similar shift.

Binance Spot CVD moved from around +$39 million to -$167.5 million, a negative swing of approximately $206.5 million and its most negative reading since July.

This means the downturn isn’t just affecting perpetual futures, as both spot and derivatives order flows are moving in the same direction as XRP’s falling price.

The combination of falling price, contracting open interest and increasingly negative perpetual CVD is consistent with long-side deleveraging and position closures rather than continued leverage expansion.

However, open interest alone cannot determine which side of every position was closed, so the data is better viewed as evidence of a broader reduction in leveraged exposure accompanied by persistent aggressive sell-side flow.

The decline in open interest may leave XRP's market structure less dependent on elevated leverage and reduce the risk associated with crowded positioning.

Written by Amr Taha