XRP Up 2% Without ETF Inflows: What Is Going On?

by | Mar 13, 2026 | General

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is up 2% on Friday despite ETF outflows on Thursday as derivatives volume exploded 35% over the last 24 hours.

The ETF Outflow Problem

XRP spot ETFs recorded $6.08 million in net outflows on March 12, extending a streak of redemptions even as technical momentum improved. 

Total net assets sit at $967.77 million, but flow patterns have been unstable with big inflows on March 6 and 9 totaling $34.73 million, then outflows on March 5, 10, and 12.

U.S.-listed XRP ETFs recorded roughly $3.9 million in outflows during the session. The negative flows suggest institutional investors are trimming positions despite the price rally.

The Short Squeeze Catalyst

Derivatives data shows where the real action is. Trading volume surged 35% to $4.45 billion while open interest rose 9.37% to $2.66 billion, meaning new money is entering positions rather than existing traders shuffling around.

Options volume exploded 1,208% to $6.05 million, though options open interest dropped 7.21%. 

This pattern suggests traders are closing out old positions and opening aggressive new ones, likely call buying given the price action.

The long/short ratio sits at 1.006, nearly perfectly neutral on a 24-hour basis. But Binance top traders by accounts are skewed 2.15 long, meaning the smart money crowd is betting on upside.

Liquidation data supports the short squeeze theory. In the last four hours, $767,000 in shorts were liquidated versus $436,000 in longs. 

Over 24 hours, shorts lost $2.37 million compared to $772,000 for longs. Forced short-covering pushes price higher, triggering more liquidations in a self-reinforcing loop.

The Technical Setup

XRP bounced hard off the $1.20 area in early March and is now pushing into the upper Bollinger Band at $1.4346. 

When price rides the upper band, it signals either a strong momentum push building or an imminent rejection.

The middle Bollinger Band at $1.38 now acts as support, a short-term positive.

However, the Supertrend remains bearish at $1.5890, sitting well above price. Until XRP reclaims $1.59, the broader trend hasn’t officially flipped.

Activity on the XRP Ledger continued to rise. Daily transactions recently climbed to around 2.7 million, among the highest levels in recent months, partly driven by projects focused on tokenizing real-world assets.

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