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XRP is hot again after Binance's top trader metrics revealed a heavy bias: 76.16% of the best accounts are holding long, with only 23.84% still betting against it. The long/short account ratio has shot up to 3.19, which is one of the most bullish positions in months.
Even more importantly, the position-based ratio also climbed to 1.97, showing that this is not just a crowd of sidelined bulls — these accounts are actually sizing up on XRP.
Just a few days ago, XRP bounced off the $1.80 zone and got back up to the $2.10 level, but the price is still pretty low compared to the early January time when it almost broke through to $2.40.
While the chart still shows some selling pressure, derivatives sentiment has flipped decisively, and that rarely happens without reason. This is not a neutral crowd hoping for direction — it is a packed bus heading north.
Why long XRP?
Partly due to short-side exhaustion. Funding rates are cooling, and the market has digested a month-long altcoin cycle. While Bitcoin consolidates, high-beta assets like XRP are attractive candidates for catch-up plays, especially if the ETF narrative sustains.
But a ratio of almost 3.2 long/short often suggests local overconfidence or front-running. In the past, there were similar imbalances before XRP's big moves in March 2021 and November 2023.
If things keep going the way they are, we might see a rise to somewhere between $2.80 and $3 before the end of the month, as long as the current pace does not slow down around the $2.40 mark.
For now, it is plain to see that whales are loading up, and they are doing it quickly. If $2.40 cracks, January has a chance of a final run.
Gamza Khanzadaev
Tomiwabold Olajide
Arman Shirinyan