[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] XRP futures trading rose to about $57 billion in September, the highest level in six months.

On Oct. 6 local time, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that XRP derivatives trading rose in September following gains in August, and that trader funds also appear to be flowing back in as prices rebound.

XRP rose 30 percent in August and gained another 7.94 percent in September. As spot prices continued to recover, traders are seen as increasing leveraged futures positions to respond to the upswing.

Trading in the XRP futures market rose gradually from June 2025 and peaked in September 2025 at more than $180 billion. Volumes then fell each month, dropping below $50 billion in July 2026. The decline stalled in August 2026. Volume remained below $50 billion, but it marked the first change as the string of decreases stopped.

The rebound became clearer in September. Monthly trading climbed back above $50 billion and neared $60 billion. The market still falls short of the roughly $180 billion peak in September 2025, but the gains in August and September are read as a signal that traders are gradually returning to the XRP futures market.

By exchange, Binance was dominant. Binance's September XRP futures trading volume was about $32.36 billion. That was higher than the combined $23.82 billion on second- and third-ranked Bybit and OKX. Bybit logged $12.5 billion and OKX posted about $11.32 billion. Binance alone handled more than half of total XRP futures trading in September.

Short-term indicators showed the same trend. Over the past 24 hours, XRP futures trading volume rose 1.85 percent to $2.65 billion, and open interest increased 0.48 percent to $3.61 billion. Rising volume and open interest together mean fresh funds and new positions continued to flow in, rather than existing contracts merely changing hands.

The options market also heated up quickly. XRP options trading volume surged 158 percent over the same period to nearly $7 million. Demand rose not only for futures but also for options and structured exposure, suggesting interest is spreading across derivatives beyond simple short-term trading.

Market positioning, however, did not tilt to one side. The overall XRP long-short ratio stood at 0.9701, showing a slight short bias in the tally. That means the broader market has not fully shifted to optimism even as futures trading increases.

Individual exchange indicators, by contrast, showed somewhat different signals. Binance's account-based long-short ratio was 2.2446, and OKX's was 2.87. While the overall tally leaned closer to bearishness, major exchanges had a higher share of accounts betting on gains. As a result, the XRP derivatives market can be summed up as a phase in which a recovery in trading is accompanied by diverging views on direction.