[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Leverage positions in the XRP market are shrinking quickly and spot selling has risen sharply, but prices continue to move relatively steadily near key support levels.

On Sept. 18, local time, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that XRP was trading around $1.40 and had risen about 8 percent over the past week.

Position unwinding accelerated in both futures and spot markets. On Binance, XRP open interest fell to about $219 million on Sept. 17 from about $323 million on Aug. 22, down 32 percent in less than four weeks. Given that XRP fell about 10 percent over the same period, this suggests existing leverage positions may have been reduced ahead of any expansion in new short selling.

A similar move appeared across the broader derivatives market. Total XRP derivatives open interest fell to about $871 million on Sept. 17 from about $1.13 billion in mid-August, a drop of more than $250 million in under a month.

Selling pressure was stronger in the spot market. Binance perpetual futures CVD, which shows the gap between aggressive buying and selling in the futures market, worsened to about minus $1.0 billion from about minus $361 million over the same period. That was the weakest level between July and September. Estimated spot CVD across major centralised exchanges slid to about minus $2.1 billion from about minus $111 million. That implies spot selling dominance widened by about $2.0 billion.

The expansion in spot selling exceeded three times the roughly $639 million decline in perpetual futures CVD. It signals that selling was not limited to short-term traders using leverage, and that spot participants also sold large amounts of XRP to take profits or cut losses.

Still, falling open interest can reduce excessive leverage that can amplify further sharp declines. With fewer high-leverage long positions remaining, the risk of cascading forced liquidations could be lower than before even if XRP falls again. If buying demand returns, a short squeeze could also occur.

XRP has stayed above $1.29, the 20-week exponential moving average, even as leverage has been reduced. In the short term, if it holds firmly above $1.40 on a daily basis, the $1.60 to $1.70 range could emerge as the next target. If it closes below $1.29, the market’s focus could turn again to the psychological support level of $1.00.

After the Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.25 percentage point and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a blockchain-based stock trading pilot, the broader cryptocurrency market rebounded. In that context, XRP’s defence of support levels despite heavy spot selling remained a short-term point to watch.