Why Is XRP Up Today? $300 Million in Shorts Liquidated as Bitcoin Surpasses $84,000
Bitcoin's surge toward $85,000 forced $300 million in short liquidations in one hour, sparking XRP's 7.57% single-day gain.
XRP's funding rate had been negative since September 11, signaling a crowded short book that unwound violently when liquidations hit.
A close above $1.50 opens the path to $1.70; a close below $1.41 signals the squeeze is already spent.
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XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) has seen a notable rise of 6.4% as of September 21, now trading at $1.47. This surge follows Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) breaking the $84,000 mark, rising 5.3% to $84,702, its highest point since January 31. Other cryptocurrencies are also riding the wave, with Ethereum up 5.4%, Solana surging 6.6%, and Zcash climbing 4.5%, contributing to a generally positive market.
XRP's price surge is largely driven by Bitcoin, which forced exchanges to buy back around $300 million of losing short positions in just an hour. XRP had the largest share of shorts to unwind during this buying frenzy. However, despite the 6% jump, XRP is still down 1.5% over the past 30 days and about 20% for the year, so this daily gain hasn't significantly changed its overall trend.
Bitcoin's climb was the real trigger. Early in European trading on September 21, Bitcoin hovered around $82,000. As oil prices dipped and stock futures rose, it quickly shot to $84,700, a level it hadn't seen in nearly eight months. As Bitcoin's price rose, it reached levels where many short positions couldn't maintain their margins, prompting exchanges to buy back coins at market prices to cover those positions. This process is known as short liquidation.
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Simply put, when a trader shorts a coin, they borrow it and sell it, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price. But if the price increases and they can't cover their losses, the exchange steps in to buy back the coin, driving the price up further. CoinGlass reported that in the hour Bitcoin crossed $84,000, about $313 million in positions were liquidated, with shorts making up 96% of that amount. Over 24 hours, around $710 million was liquidated, and shorts accounted for 86% of that total.
The forced buying helps all coins with significant short positions, but XRP stood out for a couple of reasons. First, XRP's funding rate had been negative for over a week, meaning traders betting against XRP paid extra to hold their positions, indicating a crowded short market. Second, XRP had been lagging behind the market recently, causing traders who bet against it to accumulate large positions that became vulnerable during Bitcoin's spike.
This helps explain why XRP gained 6.4% while Bitcoin rose 5.3%. Solana also rose 6.6%, partly due to its own upward trend before the squeeze. However, XRP's rise this time was largely due to the positioning and the impact of Bitcoin's movement.
Despite the 6% increase, XRP is still down 20% for the year and remained in the red over the last month, with the coin falling 8% just a week earlier. While it is up 4.6% over the past week, the recovery hasn't fully offset the recent losses.
The good news is that XRP is now trading above its 200-day moving average of $1.35 and its 20-day average of $1.32. Traders watch these averages because staying above them can sustain buyer interest. Key support levels for XRP are $1.41, $1.35, and $1.30, while resistance is at $1.50, $1.55, and the August high of $1.70.
Additionally, the 50-day moving average is rising and may soon cross above the 200-day average, a bullish signal known as a golden cross. However, once short positions are cleared, buying pressure may slow.
Probably not just from this alone. A short squeeze involves buying a cryptocurrency with money from other traders' losses, and once those bets are closed, the buying stops. For XRP to stay at $1.47, Bitcoin needs to hold above $84,000 until regular buyers step in to replace those liquidations. However, Ripple has an upcoming event that could hurt this. On October 1, Ripple will release its monthly batch of one billion XRP from escrow, which usually doesn't help the price in the days leading up to it.
So, why has XRP gone up? It's largely because exchanges forced the liquidation of $300 million in short positions when Bitcoin broke $84,000, and XRP had the most crowded short positions among major cryptocurrencies. The downside is that no new buyers are supporting this price increase. If XRP closes above $1.50, it could target $1.55 and $1.70. Conversely, if it closes below $1.41, the squeeze pressure will be over, making $1.41 a key level to watch.
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