The altcoin market in December did not show heavy losses like the previous month. It is now entering a sideways phase, while several altcoins with specific catalysts and news have driven many futures traders to take one-sided positions.
However, this week also brings several significant macroeconomic events that could put their positions at significant risk of liquidation.
1. Zcash (ZEC)
From an all-time high of USD 748 last month, the price of ZEC has dropped 50%. Such a deep decline often attracts investors who believe they missed previous opportunities, helping to stimulate futures traders to expect a recovery in December, resulting in an increase in accumulated liquidation volume on the Long side.
Traders have another reason to bet on the Long side when Zooko Wilcox, the founder of Zcash, joins a discussion on December 15 organized by the SEC about crypto, financial regulation, and privacy. Investors expect his participation to help support privacy altcoins, including ZEC.
If Long positions remain overly confident without a stop-loss plan, Long traders may face liquidation risks of up to 98 million USD if ZEC drops to 295 USD this week.
Recent analysis by BeInCrypto shows that ZEC remains in a long-term downtrend after a FOMO rally. Its technical structure still resembles a bubble pattern.
2. Aster (ASTER)
Aster, a leading derivative DEX on the BNB Chain, benefits from the growth of trading activity during the Perpetual DEX boom in September. However, its price has dropped more than 60% and is now below USD 1.
The liquidation map shows that the outstanding liquidation volume of Short positions exceeds that of Long positions. However, Short sellers may face significant risks this week.
Aster has just announced an accelerated buyback program starting December 8, 2025, with this new daily buyback increasing to approximately 4 million USD from the previous 3 million USD.
This development could help support higher prices this week. If ASTER rises to 1.07 USD, the liquidation volume on the low price side could exceed 32 million USD.
Technically, analysts also noted that the price has reached a strong support zone and has already broken through the 1-month trend line.
3. Bittensor (TAO)
The liquidation map for Bittensor (TAO) shows severe imbalances, with the liquidation volume on the high price side significantly exceeding that on the low price side.
If TAO drops to 243.50 USD, high price traders may face losses of nearly 17 million USD. Conversely, if it rises to 340 USD, approximately 5 million USD would be liquidated in low price positions.
Why are many traders betting on the high price side? Many expect the price to rise ahead of the first halving of TAO.
According to BeInCrypto, around December 14, Bittensor's first halving will reduce daily token issuance from 7,200 TAO to 3,600 when the total supply is 10.5 million.
This supply reduction will decrease the issuance to network participants and increase the scarcity of TAO. Bitcoin's history shows that supply reductions can increase value in the network, even with lower rewards, as network security and market value have strengthened through four consecutive halvings. Similarly, Bittensor's first halving is considered a significant milestone in the network's growth as it progresses toward a supply cap of 21 million tokens – as explained by Grayscale.
Grayscale's report has bolstered bullish market confidence among Long traders. Without strict stop-loss planning, the effects of 'selling the news' could trigger widespread market liquidations.
Moreover, the second week of December is also the week when the Fed announces its interest rate decision. Historically, this announcement tends to have a greater impact on the markets than most internal crypto news. Even if traders accurately predict the Fed's decision, they may still fail to avoid the extreme volatility that triggers liquidations in both Long and Short positions.
