XRP $3 Options Lead Market Buzz as XRP/BTC Chart Breakout Hints at More Upside
XRP has advanced over 3.5% in the past 24 hours, reflecting growing optimism in the crypto market, especially in the derivatives segment on Deribit.
Data from Amberdata reveals that since July 1, traders have heavily focused on call options expiring July 25 at strike prices of $3.00 and $4.00, as well as the Sept. 28 call at $2.80. This signals that investors are increasingly positioning for potential gains in XRP’s price.
Call options provide the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying asset at a certain price before the contract expires, making them a popular choice for those anticipating price increases. For instance, buyers of the $3 call option are betting that XRP will trade above $3 before the July 25 expiration. On Deribit, each options contract equals one XRP token.
Recent trading data shows significant buying interest at the $3 strike, with roughly 2 million contracts acquired over the last day. Conversely, the $2.80 strike has seen traders predominantly selling contracts.
Additionally, the $3 call option has seen the largest weekly jump in open interest, underscoring its popularity among those wagering on further XRP gains.
The surge in options activity coincides with growing speculation that a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be approved in the U.S. soon. Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart recently assigned a 95% probability to the SEC giving the green light to such a product, indicating strong confidence in its eventual launch.
Meanwhile, Ripple, the company behind XRP’s use in cross-border payments, revealed on Wednesday that it has applied for a national banking charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
“If approved, we’d be under both state (via NYDFS) and federal regulation, setting a new benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on X.
XRP/BTC Breakout Signals Possible Trend Shift
Technically, the XRP/BTC pair on Binance has broken free from a falling wedge formation, suggesting potential further gains for XRP against bitcoin.
A falling wedge pattern is generally a bullish signal, defined by downward-sloping trendlines that converge, indicating declining selling momentum. A breakout above the upper trendline is seen as confirmation that the market is turning more positive.
XRP/BTC has now moved decisively above the wedge’s resistance line, suggesting that the correction since April’s highs may have ended and that bullish momentum could be returning.
Despite this positive technical signal, caution remains among traders. The 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) are still positioned in a bearish configuration, with the shorter averages trending lower below the longer-term SMA. However, such moving averages often lag behind swift price movements, meaning they might not yet reflect the emerging bullish shift in XRP/BTC.
