3 Altcoins Facing Major Liquidation Risks in the First Week of January

The new year’s barely begun, and already the crypto markets feel restless. There’s energy prices moving, chatter picking up but under it all, leverage keeps piling up. That’s the kind of setup that doesn’t just fizzle out. It snaps.

Three names look especially shaky right now if the momentum slips, even just a bit. First, Solana (SOL). It bounced back hard, and traders rushed in, stacking up bullish bets in perpetual futures. You can see it in the funding rates they’re still high, which means the crowd is leaning long. Optimism rules for now, but when too many people line up on one side, even a small dip can set off forced liquidations as traders scramble for the exits.

Dogecoin (DOGE) is next. Meme coins move fast, and right now DOGE is back in the spotlight with speculators pouring in. Open interest has climbed way faster than real spot demand, and that’s a classic red flag. If the price stops climbing or even wobbles, over-leveraged longs won’t wait around they’ll bail, and what could’ve been a minor pullback turns into a sharp drop.

Then there’s Avalanche (AVAX). It just broke out of a tight range, which usually draws in aggressive leverage. AVAX isn’t as liquid as the bigger names, so it doesn’t take much selling to kick off a chain reaction.liquidations can hit both longs and shorts, feeding on themselves.

None of this means these projects are doomed. Their fundamentals aren’t the problem the risk comes from the way traders are positioned. Early January is always jumpy, with new money colliding with shaky setups. For anyone trading, take it as a warning: leverage works both ways, and in a crowded market, the first move against the herd stings the most.