XRP flips BNB as open interest builds back toward pre-crash levels
The token broke through $1.50 resistance on a 125% volume spike, pushing its market cap to $93.4 billion. Binance futures open interest has climbed 59% since October even as the price remains 58% below its high.
By Shaurya Malwa Mar 17, 2026, 6:40 a.m.
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What to know:
- XRP has surged 11% over the past week to $1.53, reclaiming the No. 4 spot by market value with a capitalization of about $93.4 billion and breaking through resistance around $1.40.
- Open interest in XRP futures on Binance has risen 59% since late October to about 353 million XRP even as the token trades 37% below its prior level, signaling traders are adding leverage into the rally rather than unwinding positions.
- While current open interest remains below the peak seen before last October’s crash, the buildup of leveraged bets as XRP tests the $1.50 to $1.60 range suggests stronger structural support but also growing risk if the breakout fails.
XRP just reclaimed a ranking it hasn't held in weeks, and the derivatives market suggests traders are positioning for more.
The token surged to $1.53 on Tuesday, up 11% on the week, overtaking BNB to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $93.4 billion. The move broke through $1.40 resistance, per CoinDesk analytics, with trading volume exploding 125% to $3.22 billion.
Coinglass data shows XRP open interest on Binance has climbed to 353.49 million XRP as of March 17, up from 222.79 million on Oct. 24, 2025, when XRP was trading at $2.39. That's a 59% increase in open interest while the price is 37% lower. New leveraged positions are building into the recovery rather than unwinding, which is a fundamentally different setup from the deleveraging that dominated January and February.
The Binance OI chart shows the full arc. Open interest peaked above 400 million XRP in September 2025, collapsed during the October crash that took the price from $3.65 to below $2, and spent the next four months slowly rebuilding.
The current 353 million is approaching but hasn't yet matched those pre-crash levels, which means the market has room to add leverage before hitting the concentration that preceded the last wipeout.
Traders will likely now monitor whether the $1.50-$1.60 zone holds or becomes another failed breakout in a token that has been full of them since October. Open interest building into the move gives it more structural support than previous attempts, but XRP approaching pre-crash leverage levels at 58% below the pre-crash price is a setup that works until it doesn't.
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