July 17, 2025 – XRP, one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, has reached a six-month high as traders show strong interest in its future potential. The increased trading activity reflects rising optimism around the token and its possible regulatory and institutional advantages.
XRP’s price rose by more than 5% over the last 24 hours, reaching approximately $3.05 as of Wednesday. The digital asset has performed strongly over the past year, jumping around 420%, and has traded as high as $3.31 during that time.
The key catalyst in this current movement is increased open interest in XRP perpetual futures. Open interest is the value of the outstanding contracts of the derivatives that show how much capital is in play in leveraged bets on the token. This figure surpassed the amount of 8.8 billion dollars on Wednesday, as stated by CoinGlass, which monitors crypto derivatives. It is the new high in the open interest of XRP, which is more than two times higher than the previous record of the same at the beginning of the year, which was at $8.3 billion.
This record high also marks the robust increase in market participation and investor confidence. Most of this open interest was focused on two large crypto exchanges- Bitget, which had approximately $1.94 billion worth of XRP futures contracts, and Binance, which had $1.48 billion worth of XRP futures contracts.
Funding rates across several trading platforms were also positive, indicating a bullish sentiment. A positive funding rate means that traders with long positions (those who believe the price will rise) are paying traders with short positions (those betting the price will fall). When funding rates rise, it usually suggests that traders are eager to maintain bullish bets and expect further price increases.
Greg Magadini, Director of Derivatives at digital asset platform Amberdata, explained that this trend is typical of a market driven by fear of missing out (FOMO). “When traders believe prices are going up, they’re willing to pay more just to hold on to leveraged long positions,” he said.
Analysts also suggest that many traders are returning to well-known tokens from the previous bull market, including XRP, as confidence grows across the broader crypto space. Carlos Guzman, an analyst at crypto market firm GSR, said that XRP is especially popular among retail investors and is widely available on many exchanges.
One reason for this growing interest could be related to XRP’s underlying blockchain—the XRP Ledger—which includes built-in features that support regulatory compliance. Such characteristics can work in favor of XRP in the long term, particularly given the new cryptocurrency regulations that governments all over the world will start to implement, including possible stablecoin regulations.
According to Matt Kreiser, an analyst with crypto data firm Messari, adoption of the XRP Ledger to conduct financial services and tokenized assets might be boosted by the enactment of such laws, and XRP could be a beneficiary.
The other aspect raising optimism is that Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, continues to enjoy legal clarity. Following years of legal pressure by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), most people think the situation is on an upward trend. As the lawsuit is reaching its concluding phases, investors are becoming optimistic that the regulatory challenges will soon be past the project.
XRP continues to be one of the most closely watched altcoins, and its rising price and open interest suggest that both retail and institutional traders are preparing for possible future gains.
