Prominent crypto and forex trader Lars Kooistra has revealed a shocking contrarian play on XRP, despite having a bullish bias on Shiba Inu.
The analyst, who goes by the pseudonym Lars Kooistra, revealed that he still has a short bet on XRP, an asset that has defied bearish trends for most of the year. This stems from his belief that the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap would see further downsides.
However, the Kooistra is long on the prominent meme coin, Shiba Inu, amid recent bullish price action. Here’s the reason behind his bull-bear bias towards the two cryptocurrencies.
40% Short Position on XRP Still Running
The top trader revealed that his 40% short position on XRP remains open, despite the asset’s recent price recovery. For perspective, he revealed opening a short on the XRPL native token nearly a week ago, citing a high-probability technical cycle time (TCT) model 2 distribution schematic.
Short taken live on the NY open stream.
High probability #TCT model 2 distribution schematic with the entry on the backtest after breaking MS.
BTC was setting itself up for one of the more obvious looking traps I have identified in a while.
TP1 60% at TT (technical… https://t.co/zh9NZ9icR7 pic.twitter.com/MxnWPsgxhF
— The Composite Trader (@Larskooistra_) April 15, 2025
Meanwhile, his latest disclosure shows he has closed 60% of the trade at a 2.60% realized profit. Interestingly, XRP closed the week bearish, with Bitcoin’s choppy price action ensuring the downtrend. However, the token has fully recovered from the retracement following a strong start today.
At the time of this report, Kooistra still held 40% of the position, which he disclosed was risk-free, meaning he expects XRP to reach his earlier $2 target.
Notably, the trend of shorting XRP has increased lately amid its sideways price action. For perspective, analysts Koroush AK. and Cole Garner recently urged users to short the XRPL native token, predicting a considerable downturn in the near term. However, these massive shorts could lead to a short squeeze if XRP sees a sudden massive upsurge, fueling further rallies.
Trader Swing-Long on Shiba Inu
While bearish on XRP, Kooistra is surprisingly bullish on Shiba Inu. He disclosed that he has opened a mid-term long position on the meme token, citing the high probability TCT model 1 accumulation schematic on the higher time frame, which suggests that SHIB could rally from here.
Meanwhile, he stressed that his contrarian play on the altcoins was because they tell a different story on the higher timeframe. As a result, he expects XRP to react differently to the prevalent market conditions.
Remarkably, Shiba Inu and XRP have shared a striking price correlation lately. Data shows that although SHIB shows a more bullish momentum, its prices seem headed in the same direction. With both assets currently moving upwards, Kooistra’s XRP short position could face issues.
In the meantime, XRP trades at $2.1331 and SHIB at $0.00001266.
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