XRP trading volume balloons to $7.4 billion, as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reportedly erupts in a massive bull run
XRP touched $1.60 in the September 22 trading session, with about $7.4 billion traded that day. The market is performing strongly. However, the latest public holdings data from regulated futures markets shows a clear differentiation in position adjustments between different exchanges and needs to be interpreted more carefully.
CME's net worth shrinks sharply
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) September 15 holdings bulletin showed that a leveraged fund had reduced the net worth of its CME futures by 46.3 million XRP units in one week.
The CME standard contract represents 50,000 XRP per unit. As of September 15, the leveraged fund held 1,585 multi-head contracts and 2,304 blank contracts, with 719 net blanks representing approximately 35.95 million XRP units.
A week ago, it held 1,280 multi-headed pairs of 2,925 blank heads and 1,645 net blanks for about 82.25 million XRP. The change between the two reports reduced its net blank head by 926 contracts or 46.3 million XRPs.
This change comes from two aspects: 305 more heads and 621 less heads. Headless replenishment is the main driver, but there has also been some new increase in multiple head openings. There was a decrease of 509 outstanding contracts during the same period, equivalent to 25.45 million XRP, indicating that some traders increased their multi-head positions while reducing their overall position.
Coinbase three products combined limited changes
After converting three products under Coinbase Derivatives to XRP equivalents, the same class of traders reduced their net worth by only 2.452 million units and still hold about 141.6 billion units of XRP. The two products in Coinbase Standard Contracts represent 10,000 XRP each and are labeled as NANO XRP and Nano XRP PERP STYLE representing 500 XRP apiece.
| Reporting market | 8th of September | As of 15 September, the company's net worth is unknown. | Changes in latitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| CME (50000 copies each) | 82.25 million copies | 359.5 million copies | Less than 46.3 million |
| Coinbase Standard ($10,000 for each coin) | 132.17 million copies | 1,285.2 million copies | Reduced by 3.65 million |
| Coinbase nano ($500 each) | 99.45 million copies | Published by Jehovah's Witnesses | 92,000 fewer copies |
| Coinbase perpetual ((500 for each coin) | 109.02 million copies | 12,19.2 million copies | Added 1.29 million copies |
| Coinbase three products combined | 144.7 million copies | 1,416.1 million | Reduced to 2.452 million |
Coinbase's small improvement came mainly from standard contracts, with nano-contracts contributing a decrease of 92,000 units. Perpetual products reversed the trend, adding 1.29 million net openings to partially offset the decline in two other products. As of September 15, Coinbase had nearly four times CME's combined net opening and much less change than CME within one week.
It is worth noting that Coinbase's perpetual products are structurally different from the indefinite maturities common in offshore exchanges, which are regulated five-year cash settlement futures and use a fund rate adjustment mechanism. The composition of participants and strategy portfolios may vary, which is also why each product data is listed separately.
What the data does and doesn't say
The CFTC's Leveraged Fund category covers self-reported primary business activities of traders that meet this classification. Although the report contains a separate field for mechanical spreads, neither can determine the motivation behind each overhead or short position. Short positions may express bearish views, hedge against market caps, offset other derivatives, or constitute one side of underlying spreads; reducing short positions may also address multiple scenarios.
These constraints are critical, as the CME's flash changes simultaneously include multiple gains and losses and a decrease in total outstanding positions. The data supports this conclusion: The holdings of leveraged funds on CME have become significantly less biased. It is beyond evidence to characterize them as new round directional purchases or as the reason for XRP's subsequent rise.
In addition, the comparison was limited to four contract families in this CFTC investigation and CME also listed a separate Micro XRP product. According to CFTC rules, only at least 20 traders holding positions that meet reporting levels will be included in the market's reports. Missing rows imply activity of another product is unknown and the reporting threshold caused by an absence is just one possible explanation.
The next data validation node
CFTC reports typically reflect Tuesday's holdings and are generally released on Fridays at 3:30 pm EST. The agency has published a preliminary calendar for 2026, indicating that September 25 will be the release of the report, which usually covers September 22 holdings.
This new snapshot examines whether the divergence across venues continues in bullish conditions, but price causality remains beyond the interpretation of weekly holding data. A broader directional shift would be supported if Coinbase's cumulative net head also decreased significantly, especially with an expansion in unbalanced holdings; conversely, if Coinbases maintained a heavy void and CME continued to dominate, the data would continue to support the explanation that specific venue positions had been reset backwards.
There are currently three facts that can coexist without forced attribution: XRP has risen; CME leverage funds have previously cut their net worth significantly; Coinbase's comparable holding totals remain almost unchanged. The differentiation itself is a signal, and the reason behind it remains to be revealed by subsequent data.
(This article is based on the CFTC's public holdings data and CryptoSlate reports, only stating facts that have been made public. It does not constitute any investment advice.))
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