XRP Leads Bullish Sentiment as Perpetual Funding Rates Rise Across Major Altcoins
Perpetual funding rates reveal a strong bullish trend among top altcoins, with XRP showing the highest demand for leveraged long positions as Bitcoin starts the historically quiet third quarter with little price movement.
Funding rates, which exchanges charge every eight hours on perpetual futures contracts without expiry, indicate the cost traders pay to hold long or short positions. A positive funding rate means longs pay shorts because futures are trading above spot prices, signaling bullish sentiment. Negative rates suggest bearish pressure.
According to data from Velo, XRP’s annualized funding rate is close to 11%, topping the list among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Tron’s TRX and Dogecoin follow with funding rates around 10% and 8.4%, respectively. Bitcoin and Ethereum maintain modestly positive rates.
This suggests that XRP investors are the most eager among leading cryptos to hold leveraged bullish positions, aligning with last week’s surge in optimism despite the delayed Ripple-SEC settlement, as noted by Santiment.
Beyond the major tokens, Monero (XMR) stands out with a funding rate above 23%, signaling strong bullish interest, while Stellar’s XLM posts a steep negative rate of -24%, reflecting a bearish bias.
Bitcoin’s Seasonal Slump Begins
Historically, Bitcoin’s third quarter is the weakest period of the year, averaging a 5.57% gain since 2013, far less than the fourth quarter’s 85% average gain, according to Coinglass.
BTC’s price remains stable around $107,000, stuck in a narrow range between $100,000 and $110,000 for nearly 50 days. This sideways movement is driven by a balance of selling from long-term holders and inflows into U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Analysts are closely watching Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Tuesday and Friday’s nonfarm payrolls release for potential catalysts that could trigger a breakout.
