As the market enters the final week of October, two major topics will dominate: AI agents and privacy. As a result, some altcoins in these sectors face significant liquidation risk if prices move against traders’ expectations.
Which altcoins are at risk and what should traders watch out for? Find out more in the analysis below.
1. Solana (SOL)
The 7-day liquidation map for Solana (SOL) shows a large imbalance between long and short positions.
Sponsored Sponsored
Short-term derivatives traders are taking advantage of bullish positions. Unless SOL rises further this week, they will be the ones to lose the most.
There are several factors that explain why traders expect SOL to increase. The recent surge in interest in the x402 token has benefited Solana, which serves as one of the two major networks (along with Base) supporting x402 ecosystem payments via the Paai Network facilitator.
However, on-chain data shows that the exchange’s SOL reserves have been steadily increasing since early October. This trend indicates that holders are more willing to sell, increasing the risk that prices will fall sharply.
If SOL falls to $178, the cumulative liquidation of long positions could reach $1.6 billion. In contrast, if SOL were to rise to $225, approximately $260 million could be liquidated from short positions.
Sponsored Sponsored
2. Zcash (ZEC)
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX, recently predicted that ZEC could reach $10,000, fueling a strong rally through October and pushing the price above $370.
“ZEC to $10,000,” Arthur Hayes said.
Over the past three months, Zcash (ZEC) has soared over 750% due to renewed attention to privacy coins.
A recent BeInCrypto report highlighted that Zcash’s shielded pool has grown to over 4.5 million ZEC, locking in nearly 27.5% of the total supply, demonstrating growing confidence in the privacy-focused technology.
These developments encouraged derivatives traders to take long positions, leading to a highly skewed liquidation map that favors longs over shorts.
However, long traders should be careful. ZEC has reached levels similar to its 2021 peak, meaning almost all holders over the past four years have made profits. This can lead to strong selling pressure and sudden long-term liquidations.
Sponsored Sponsored
Furthermore, ZEC’s open interest has reached an all-time high of more than $500 million, which is nearly 10 times higher than its 2021 peak. This indicates that ZEC’s price action is currently dominated by derivatives activity, often resulting in sharp volatility.
If ZEC falls to $287, long traders could face liquidation losses of more than $42 million. Conversely, a rise to $407 could cause a liquidation of around $23 million for short traders.
3. Virtual protocol (VIRTUAL)
This week saw multiple integrations in Virtuals Protocol, the AI agent ecosystem, including a Coinbase Retail DEX listing of all agent tokens.
A positive report from a16z regarding the potential of AI agents further increased investor interest in VIRTUAL. At the same time, the wave of x402 tokens gained further momentum as the virtual protocol served as an important starting point for AI agent tokens.
Sponsored Sponsored
According to data from Dune, the number of daily active addresses on Virtual doubled in October to more than 17,000 wallets. This recovery has fueled bullish sentiment among long traders.
If VIRTUAL rises to $1.8, the cumulative liquidation of short positions could reach $7.8 million.
However, the token price has surged over 100% in the last week, from $0.71 to $1.64, and has corrected to around $1.45 at the time of writing. If profit-taking continues and the price falls to $1.29, long-term liquidations could total $8.8 million.
The key question now is whether the narrative around AI agents and privacy will lose momentum as quickly as it emerged.
Many analysts have warned that the hype surrounding the x402 token currently underpinning the rise in AI agent assets could fizzle out just as quickly as the meme token trend. Meanwhile, the debate over privacy coins is already showing signs of calming down as October approaches.
