Monero Futures Open Interest Tops $300M, Nearing January Record

Open interest in Monero futures has crossed $300 million, approaching the record level of roughly $320 million recorded in January, according to metrics from SoSoValue ¹. The expansion in leveraged derivatives activity comes as the spot price of $XMR recently climbed above $600, reaching its highest level since January ¹.

In token-denominated terms, open interest advanced to a five-week high of 515,730 XMR, marking a sharp increase from 400,000 XMR just one week prior ¹. Monero, which maintains a market capitalization of $10.9 billion as the second-largest privacy coin, has seen notional futures open interest exceed the $300 million threshold only a handful of times, all occurring within 2026 ¹. At the time of writing, spot XMR changed hands at $588.75, down 3.9% over the past 24 hours.

Echoes of January's Liquidation Cascade

The current leverage buildup mirrors market conditions from earlier this year, when elevated open interest preceded a rapid price collapse ¹. On Jan. 14, Monero's spot price reached approximately $790 alongside record futures open interest ¹. Over the subsequent three weeks, forced closures of long positions drove the price below $300 by early February, amounting to a 66% drawdown characterized by millions of dollars in liquidated long contracts, according to Coinglass data ¹. Understanding how leverage unwinds is critical in these scenarios, as exchanges automatically close under-margined accounts, compounding market sell-offs.

Pseudonymous crypto analyst Doctor Profit pointed to the January precedent, warning that the return to comparable open interest volumes heightens the probability of a major liquidation cascade ¹. While dollar-denominated open interest indicates the gross scale of capital at risk of forced execution, coin-denominated growth confirms an actual accumulation of contract volume rather than pure nominal inflation driven by spot price appreciation ¹.