XRP Jumps to $1.60 as CME Shorts Collapse—but Coinbase Traders Barely Move

By Isaac • September 22, 2026 11:27 pm •

XRP’s move to $1.60 looked like a straightforward short squeeze on the surface. The derivatives data underneath it tells a more interesting story: one major venue saw bearish positioning collapse, while another barely budged.

CryptoSlate’s analysis of Commodity Futures Trading Commission data found that leveraged funds cut their net-short exposure in CME XRP futures by the equivalent of 46.3 million XRP in one week. That was a dramatic reset before XRP reached an intraday high near $1.60 on September 22.

The same category of traders behaved very differently across three Coinbase derivatives products. After adjusting for each contract’s size, their combined net short fell by only about 2.452 million XRP and still stood near 141.6 million