Fake-coin contracts’ open interest first surpasses Bitcoin! For the first time since Dec 2024—today’s “boom” is more dangerous than a crash
On September 8, MEXC Alpha Trader’s industry daily report issued a rare signal: across the whole market, altcoin open interest has first exceeded Bitcoin’s. The last time this kind of structure appeared was back in Dec 2024.
The signs actually started on September 6. That day, the total open interest in altcoin perpetual futures overtook Bitcoin. The direct driver was Zcash—its open interest contracts alone surged to 2.4 billion USD, setting a historical record. Coin prices cooperated too: Zcash rose 33% over the week, DOGE about 9% over the week, and BNB more than 7% over the week. Altcoins aren’t just riding Bitcoin’s heat—they’re running their own independent trend.
When altcoin contract open interest surpasses Bitcoin, this structure also appeared once in Dec 2024, and the following script was extremely ugly. From Dec 9 to 10, the total liquidation amount across the market jumped to 1.716 billion USD. Smaller altcoins were the worst hit: 564 million USD liquidated, and the long side accounted for more than 96%. Looking at the downside again, among coins ranked in the top 100 by market cap, the median maximum drawdown was 44%, and a large number of altcoins were effectively cut in half.
Altcoin leverage has already been stacked to historical extremes. “Even a small pullback in price could trigger a chain liquidation cascade”—and right now is a fragile period for liquidity.
Bitcoin is also bearing its own pressure: BTC slipped below 78,000 USD, trading in the 77,928 to 78,800 USD range, down nearly 2% over the past 24 hours. The Fear & Greed Index fell from 71 to 69—it’s still in the greed zone, but the direction is already turning downward. When bad news hits within the greed zone, it’s often not a slow, gradual bleed—it’s a sudden step down.
Next, take a look at Zcash. With 2.4 billion USD in open interest contracts, the surface story is capital flowing in; underneath it is a pile-up of high leverage. When it rises, nobody cares. When it falls, liquidation market orders can self-reinforce: the more the price drops, the more liquidations occur, the heavier the sell pressure becomes, and then the price drops further.
#Zcash周涨45%创2016年来新高 $DOGE $BNB $ZEC
On September 8, MEXC Alpha Trader’s industry daily report issued a rare signal: across the whole market, altcoin open interest has first exceeded Bitcoin’s. The last time this kind of structure appeared was back in Dec 2024.
The signs actually started on September 6. That day, the total open interest in altcoin perpetual futures overtook Bitcoin. The direct driver was Zcash—its open interest contracts alone surged to 2.4 billion USD, setting a historical record. Coin prices cooperated too: Zcash rose 33% over the week, DOGE about 9% over the week, and BNB more than 7% over the week. Altcoins aren’t just riding Bitcoin’s heat—they’re running their own independent trend.
When altcoin contract open interest surpasses Bitcoin, this structure also appeared once in Dec 2024, and the following script was extremely ugly. From Dec 9 to 10, the total liquidation amount across the market jumped to 1.716 billion USD. Smaller altcoins were the worst hit: 564 million USD liquidated, and the long side accounted for more than 96%. Looking at the downside again, among coins ranked in the top 100 by market cap, the median maximum drawdown was 44%, and a large number of altcoins were effectively cut in half.
Altcoin leverage has already been stacked to historical extremes. “Even a small pullback in price could trigger a chain liquidation cascade”—and right now is a fragile period for liquidity.
Bitcoin is also bearing its own pressure: BTC slipped below 78,000 USD, trading in the 77,928 to 78,800 USD range, down nearly 2% over the past 24 hours. The Fear & Greed Index fell from 71 to 69—it’s still in the greed zone, but the direction is already turning downward. When bad news hits within the greed zone, it’s often not a slow, gradual bleed—it’s a sudden step down.
Next, take a look at Zcash. With 2.4 billion USD in open interest contracts, the surface story is capital flowing in; underneath it is a pile-up of high leverage. When it rises, nobody cares. When it falls, liquidation market orders can self-reinforce: the more the price drops, the more liquidations occur, the heavier the sell pressure becomes, and then the price drops further.
#Zcash周涨45%创2016年来新高 $DOGE $BNB $ZEC
