[Digital Today reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] XRP has emerged as the biggest target for short-term volatility bets in the options market among major cryptocurrencies.

On Sept. 21, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that Coinbase Markets put XRP’s expected move, based on one standard deviation, at about 8.9 percent through Sept. 27.

That is higher than Solana’s 8.0 percent, ethereum’s 6.9 percent and bitcoin’s 5.0 percent. It means XRP has the widest volatility premium among the four major cryptocurrencies tracked by Coinbase. In particular, XRP’s expected move was measured at about 1.79 times the median volatility rate of about 5 percent over the past seven days.

With the spot price at $1.51, an 8.9 percent move corresponds, on a symmetric basis, to about $1.37 on the downside and $1.64 on the upside. It does not indicate which direction the options market will move. Market participants are paying for large price moves themselves rather than direction.

Derivatives indicators also supported that mood. CoinGlass data showed XRP futures trading volume at about $6.8 billion over the past 24 hours. Open interest rose to about $3.56 billion. Over the same period, XRP rose about 6.7 percent and traded around $1.51.

Losses on bearish positions expanded quickly during the rise. XRP positions liquidated over the past 24 hours totalled about $19.2 million, with short positions accounting for about $17.0 million. That indicates a wave of downside bets was unwound in the early stage of the move higher.

After that, the market’s centre of gravity is tilting the other way. Binance’s XRP/USDT account long-short ratio was calculated at about 2.18. It means positions are crowding into longs as expectations for gains grow. If long positions become too crowded, upside bets could turn into a burden again when prices wobble.

Fund flows were also mixed. About $1.81 billion flowed into the XRP futures market over the past 24 hours, and a nearly equal amount flowed out. In the short term, buying and selling are tightly matched. By contrast, cumulative net inflows over seven days posted a negative $293 million, showing that outflows have not been fully resolved in the medium term.

This structure suggests XRP could see large swings without settling on a short-term direction. The options market reflects the biggest volatility potential for XRP among major cryptocurrencies, and the futures market has entered a phase of rising long crowding after short liquidations. As a result, the market is watching whether XRP will make a large move close to the expected range, either up or down.