3 altcoins could trigger a $30 million liquidation wave this week

The cryptocurrency market in March continued to be engulfed in extreme anxiety, with the downtrend in altcoins showing no clear signs of recovery. However, amidst this bleak environment, some altcoins stand out due to their unique intrinsic factors, attracting investor attention. These factors are prompting many traders to bet against the overall market trend, which could lead to significant liquidation risks.

Which altcoins are attracting attention, and what risks should derivatives traders watch out for this week?

Bittensor (TAO)

Bittensor (TAO) has recently garnered positive attention as its price shows strong signs of recovery. After hitting a bottom at $144 last month, TAO rebounded to over $198 this month.

Believers in TAO think it has many advantages to sustain its upward momentum. Currently, about 68% of the TAO supply is staked. Although TAO’s price fluctuates, the amount of tokens staked has steadily increased from 2023 through 2026.

“I believe that with such a low circulating supply, if demand increases, $TAO’s price could react very strongly. Looking at the current chart, $TAO is in a fairly solid accumulation zone. I personally will continue to accumulate more $TAO around this price level. My target is $1,000.” – Famous DeFi analyst Tanaka shared.

Bittensor (TAO) staking ratio compared to price | Source: taostats This confidence has encouraged TAO traders to allocate more capital and use leverage to open long positions in March. According to the liquidation map, the accumulated liquidation volume of long positions on TAO far exceeds that of short positions.

TAO liquidation map | Source: Coinglass Traders pursuing long positions hope that TAO’s intrinsic momentum will help keep the price stable amid selling pressure caused by increased risk aversion in the market. However, negative developments from the Middle East could lead to capital outflows from altcoins, pushing prices lower and triggering liquidations.

Data from Coinglass shows that if TAO’s price drops to $160 this week, long positions could face liquidation losses of nearly $18 million.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI)

Last month, Coinphoton reported on the proposal to build a Governance Staking System for World Liberty Financial (WLFI). The goal of this proposal is to encourage investors to participate more actively in WLFI’s governance activities.

According to the proposal, investors will need to stake their tokens to gain voting rights. With the voting deadline approaching, over 99% of current votes support this proposal, while only 0.5% oppose.

If approved, this could boost demand for WLFI and support a price recovery. Currently, WLFI’s liquidation map shows that potential liquidation volume on the short side dominates.

WLFI liquidation map | Source: Coinglass Therefore, if these new bullish factors push WLFI’s price above $0.11 this week, short positions could face liquidation losses of over $13 million.

OKB

Last weekend, OKB experienced an impressive 40% growth after Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)—the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)—acquired a stake in OKX with a valuation of up to $25 billion and secured a seat on the board.

This event has made OKB a focus of trader attention. Open interest (OI) in OKB surged from $17 million last week to over $33 million this week.

Those setting short orders might argue that OKB’s recent strong rally will quickly weaken due to overall negative sentiment in the crypto market. However, long traders believe that the story surrounding OKB has enough strength to drive market capitalization higher as OKX’s value continues to rise.

“Although the crypto and altcoin markets are in a downturn, centralized exchanges (CEXs) are not. The investment from Intercontinental Exchange is clear evidence. CEX platforms have large numbers of young users and modern trading tools. They can expand into other assets like gold, silver, crude oil, stocks, and equity. When combined with prediction markets and news trading, CEX platforms could become a new trading ecosystem where everything can be traded. In the future, they might evolve into super financial apps rather than just crypto platforms.” – Colin Wu, Editor-in-Chief of Wu Blockchain, commented.

OKB liquidation map | Source: Coinglass According to the liquidation map, if OKB’s price drops to $87.2, potential liquidation volume of long positions could reach over $6 million. Conversely, if OKB rises to $109.8, short positions could face liquidation losses of up to $5 million.

Conclusion

Overall, these altcoins are at a critical crossroads, where positive intrinsic catalysts face downward pressure from overall market sentiment. The current situation presents a significant test that could lead to large and unexpected volatility, especially for traders using high leverage. Close monitoring of influencing factors is essential to minimize risks and maximize profits.