As the final week of July begins, the crypto derivatives market is sitting on historically high open interest, topping $200 billion. This massive leverage has set the stage for potentially huge liquidations, with a few key altcoins looking particularly vulnerable to sharp price swings.
Here's a closer look at the altcoins that could be at the center of the action.
Ethereum has been on a strong bullish run, fueled by positive news like institutional accumulation and a significant acquisition of 77,206 ETH by SharpLink Gaming last week. This momentum has pushed ETH near the critical $4,000 psychological resistance level, a point that many analysts believe could either trigger a major breakout or a wave of profit-taking.
According to data from Coinglass, a move above $4,000 could result in $1.2 billion in short liquidations. However, if ETH faces selling pressure and drops to $3,500, long positions worth a staggering $7.8 billion could be wiped out. The imbalance between longs and shorts on the liquidation map suggests that many traders are currently betting on a downward correction, making the market highly sensitive to any sudden move.
Solana has also seen its open interest swell to over $11 billion, a figure that is more than 25% higher than when SOL hit its peak earlier this year. This indicates that traders are now more exposed to Solana through derivatives than ever before, despite its spot trading volume being significantly lower than in January. This wide gap between derivatives and spot volume makes the token particularly susceptible to volatility.
With SOL currently trading around $191, a liquidation map analysis shows a relatively balanced long and short position ratio. A move above $200 could liquidate over $600 million in short positions, while a drop to $181 could lead to over $700 million in long liquidations.
BNB recently hit a new all-time high of $859, driven by increased activity on the BNB Chain and growing institutional interest. However, a liquidation map for the BNB/USDT pair on Binance reveals a high concentration of leverage, with positions using up to 50x leverage, especially within the $753 to $875 range.
On Binance alone, the data shows that long liquidations outweigh shorts. While a move above $875 could liquidate $18.5 million in short positions, a drop below the psychological $800 mark could wipe out more than $36 million in long positions. While many analysts predict that BNB could eventually reach $1,000, some suggest a short-term pullback below $800 might occur before the rally continues.
July 2025, Cryptoniteuae