Leveraged Funds Double CME XRP Shorts as 115 Million-Token Bet Faces Squeeze Risk

Leveraged funds more than doubled their CME XRP net short position as open interest surged nearly 40% in a single week.

According to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) report, XRP open interest climbed by 2,206 contracts from the previous week, reaching 7,783 futures-equivalent contracts. Given that each standard CME contract represents 50,000 XRP, the increase added roughly 110.3 million tokens and pushed total exposure to approximately 389.2 million XRP.

The expansion coincided with a sharp recovery in the token’s price. The digital asset rebounded approximately 32% from $1 this month, trading near $1.38 at the time of publication.

While the broader market moved upward, leveraged funds positioned themselves against the rally, holding 892 long contracts alongside 3,206 short contracts. Their net short widened to 2,314 contracts—equivalent to roughly 115.7 million XRP—up from 57.35 million XRP the prior week.

This increase added 58.35 million XRP in net short exposure, leaving leveraged funds with the largest directional short among all reportable CFTC categories.

Meanwhile, dealers and asset managers moved in the opposite direction.

Dealers expanded their net-long position by 1,195 contracts, equivalent to 59.75 million XRP, finishing at 2,121 contracts net long. Asset managers added 565 net contracts—representing 28.25 million XRP—to close the week 843 contracts net long.

This divergent positioning highlights how CME’s rapidly growing XRP market is generating sharply different institutional exposures rather than a consensus view on the token’s trajectory. The CFTC does not disclose whether leveraged-fund shorts represent outright bearish bets or hedges against positions held elsewhere.

Nevertheless, their growing exposure leaves leveraged funds increasingly vulnerable to further upside in the Ripple-linked token.

The category added 58.35 million tokens to its net short position during a week when XRP was already recovering, while dealers and asset managers simultaneously increased their net longs.

If XRP continues to climb while leveraged funds maintain or expand their short exposure, the gap between price momentum and institutional positioning will widen further. A retreat in those shorts, conversely, would signal that the rebound has begun forcing leveraged funds to reassess their positioning.

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