At the start of the third week of January, total market-wide liquidations reached nearly $900 million. Negative volatility driven by Trump’s tariff impact on the EU caused the spike. The figure could rise further as several altcoins show warning signs.
XRP, Axie Infinity (AXS), and Dusk (DUSK) are attracting capital and leveraging this week for different reasons. However, they could become traps for investors without strict risk management plans.
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1. XRP
On January 19, XRP dropped to $1.85 before rebounding to $1.95. The decline erased most of the recovery effort since the start of the year.
Short-term traders appear increasingly bearish. Many are betting on further downside. The 7-day liquidation map shows potential Short liquidations outweighing Long positions.
Liquidation data indicates that if XRP rebounds to $2.29 this week, Short positions could face more than $600 million in liquidations.
This scenario could unfold if concerns over Trump’s new tariffs fade quickly. Strong buying demand around the $1.8 level would also support a rebound.
Another key metric is XRP’s spot average order size. CryptoQuant data shows that when XRP trades below $2.4, large whale orders appear frequently. This pattern reflects strong whale demand at lower price levels.
“Whale interest is at a 2026 high. Large orders are dominating the tapes, suggesting the “Smart Money” is front-running the next leg up.” – An analyst from CryptoQuant commented.
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If whale accumulation surpasses the market’s temporary fears, XRP could recover swiftly. Such a move would compel short traders into liquidation.
2. Axie Infinity (AXS)
Axie Infinity (AXS) unexpectedly returned to the top trending list in the third week of January. The token has gained more than 120% year-to-date.
The January rally is driven by the Axie founders’ plan to convert rewards into a new utility token called bAXS. This change is part of a broader tokenomics overhaul scheduled for 2026.
The 7-day liquidation map for AXS shows a similar potential liquidation volume of around $12 million. However, the price range needed to liquidate Long positions is narrower than for Shorts. This suggests many traders still expect further upside in the short term.
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On the other hand, data shows that AXS’s January rally coincides with a sharp increase in exchange deposits. The 7-day average number of deposit transactions has reached a three-year high.
This trend indicates that many investors are looking to exit as prices recover, potentially leading to selling pressure at any time. Such a development could put long positions at risk.
3. Dusk (DUSK)
Dusk has emerged as a new standout in the growing interest in privacy coins. The rally reflects capital rotation from large-cap privacy coins to smaller-cap alternatives.
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Despite a nearly sixfold increase since the start of the year, DUSK has already triggered significant Short liquidations over the past four days. Short-term traders continue to add capital and leverage to bullish bets.
DUSK’s liquidation map shows that potential Long liquidations dominate. If the price corrects this week, Long positions would face serious risk.
A recent BeInCrypto report highlights rising DUSK inflows to exchanges. This trend reflects potential profit-taking selling pressure. In addition, DUSK is rallying amid a return of market fear over Trump’s new tariffs on Europe. These factors threaten the sustainability of the uptrend.
In October last year, DASH surged sixfold after capital rotated from ZEC to lower-cap privacy coins. DASH then fell by 60% the following week. DUSK faces the risk of a similar outcome.
If DUSK’s FOMO fades and the price drops below $0.13, total Long liquidations could reach $12 million.
These three altcoins reflect very different, and even opposing, expectations among short-term traders. This complexity stems from geopolitical pressures clashing with internal market dynamics. Without strict stop-loss strategies, liquidation losses could hit both Long and Short positions.
