XRP options traders are paying an unusually steep premium for upside exposure.
Coinbase Markets has spotted one of the strongest bullish skews seen in the market over the past year.
According to Coinbase Markets, XRP’s one-week 25-delta call-minus-put skew has climbed to 9.3 volatility points. The reading notably sits in the 95th percentile. This essentially means that demand for comparable calls has rarely been this strong relative to puts.
"XRP options are leaning toward upside convexity," Coinbase Markets said.
For much of late 2025 and the first half of 2026, XRP’s one-week skew was negative, at times falling below -10 volatility points. That meant puts had higher implied volatility than equivalent calls.
However, things changed very swiftly. The skew briefly surged above 15 volatility points in late August before cooling. It has now jumped back toward double-digit territory.
XRP options skew, explained
The metric sounds more complicated than it actually is.
Coinbase is comparing the implied volatility of one-week XRP calls with that of comparable one-week puts at the 25-delta level. A 25-delta risk reversal helps to measure whether or not traders are paying more for upside or downside options.
XRP’s current reading of +9.3 therefore means that the implied volatility attached to the relevant calls is 9.3 volatility points higher than that of comparable puts.
This, of course, does not mean that options traders expect XRP to rise by 9.3%.
Traders appear willing to pay an unusually high price for exposure, but extreme skew is not necessarily an unambiguously bullish price signal.
The bullish options positioning comes after XRP's strong comeback. CoinGecko data shows XRP has gained roughly 18% over the past seven days.