Many altcoins are facing a higher risk of liquidation during the Christmas week of 2026, as the heatmap for liquidations clearly shows an imbalance. Meanwhile, Open Interest has also surged dramatically.
Which altcoin is at risk, and what factors should investors watch for when holding Long or Short positions? The following analysis will detail these aspects.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
The heatmap of ETH liquidations over the past 7 days indicates that the liquidation of Long positions may be several times greater than Short positions.
If ETH drops to the 2,660 USD zone during the Christmas week, the total liquidation of Long positions could exceed 4 billion USD. Conversely, if ETH rises to 3,370 USD, the liquidation value of Short positions could reach 1.65 billion USD.
Factors that Long traders should monitor to reduce risk are as follows.
Arthur Hayes recently transferred 508.6 ETH (about 1.5 million USD) to Galaxy Digital. This action has led to speculation that he may be reducing his Ethereum holdings.
The Ethereum Coinbase Premium Index turned negative in the third week of December. If selling pressure from Coinbase intensifies, the price of ETH may weaken in the coming days.
Outflows from ETH ETFs last week amounted to 643.9 million USD. This trend reflects broader selling pressure in the overall market.
For these reasons, if various factors strengthen, it could trigger a severe downward trend, leading to widespread liquidation on the Long side.
2. Midnight (NIGHT)
Midnight (NIGHT) has gained significant attention from traders recently, with Open Interest soaring from 15 million USD to over 90 million USD in two weeks.
Liquidation data indicates that most traders believe the price of NIGHT will continue to rise, which may lead those taking bullish positions to incur greater losses due to increased capital and leverage as well.
Cardanians, a company operating the Cardano stake pool, reports that NIGHT currently has a daily trading volume of 6.8 billion USD, which is higher than the total trading volume of SOL, XRP, and BNB. Even with the spike in volume, NIGHT has closed its first red candle today after rising for seven consecutive days. This indicates increased selling pressure.
In this regard, Plutus investors referencing data from DexHunter have indicated that 100% of current NIGHT holders who bought through the market are in profit. These owners may sell for profit at any time.
These signals have served as a warning that profit-taking pressure on NIGHT may intensify this week.
The heatmap for liquidations shows that if NIGHT drops to 0.077 USD, the liquidation of accumulated Long positions could reach up to 15 million USD.
3. Audiera (BEAT)
A recent report from BeInCrypto reveals that BEAT has increased by more than 5,000% since its launch in November, with the token hitting a high of 4.99 USD.
However, many traders still appear unsatisfied and expect prices to rise further. This belief is reflected in the liquidation data which shows that the risk of Long liquidations is significantly higher than that of Shorts.
Some traders have concerns about the possibility of price manipulation, which has been compared to the 75% drop of Bitlight (LIGHT). Furthermore, supporting observations also include:
BEAT dropped 30% within an hour, then bounced back 50% in just one minute. This sudden price volatility may have been controlled by large wallets.
The official website of Audiera is still inaccessible, and the official X account of the project has not provided any updates aside from announcing BEAT as the most outstanding performer.
The CoinAnk market data platform has issued a warning about the risk of liquidation.
In a market with a negative funding rate, even though the cost of holding short positions remains low, the extreme volatility in BEAT can easily trigger chain liquidations affecting both long and short, as noted by CoinAnk.
If BEAT drops below 3 USD, the total liquidation value of Long positions could reach up to 10 million USD.
