The most dramatic story in the cryptocurrency circle recently is none other than the "Alpaca Coin" $ALPACA. Originally announced by Binance to be delisted on May 2, it not only did not plummet as expected, but instead became a "meat grinder" for long-short games - 30 million in circulation market value leveraged tens of billions in trading volume, and the liquidation data reached the top every day, which shocked the market.
1. The delisting news became a "reverse flag", and Alpaca Coin staged a counterattack script
On April 24, Binance officially announced the delisting of $ALPACA. Normally, this would be a "death sentence" and most tokens would drop by more than 50%. However, Alpaca coin did not follow the routine: after a short-term drop of 30%, the trend suddenly changed, and within 3 days, it soared from $0.029 to $0.3477, an increase of nearly 12 times! This wave of operations made short sellers confused: "Is the delisting actually a good thing? I'm afraid the main force is not playing (Anti-Routine Alliance)?"
Even more exciting is the contract market. According to Coinglass data, $3.4298 million of positions were liquidated in the past hour, with a high proportion of short orders, even surpassing Bitcoin and Ethereum. Seeing this trend, the exchange quickly cut the funding rate settlement cycle from 8 hours to 1 hour, and raised the rate cap to ±4%, and the long-short battle directly entered the "fast-paced mode".
2. Short positions were "bleeding" by the rate, and the scene of the order taker's failure was too real
The worst hit in this wave are the stubborn short sellers. In the past, short sellers could only lose their principal, but now they have to pay 2% "protection fee" every hour - if they hold a position with 1x leverage for one day, they will lose 48% in fees alone, which is equivalent to being "rubbed" by the market.
But some people just don't believe it. A trader took millions of dollars of follow-up funds to short with high leverage. As a result, the price of Alpaca Coin soared, and he and his followers were all put on the liquidation list. Netizens complained: "This is not a trader, it's clearly leading everyone to 'send heads' to the main force!"
On April 29, the fee cap was raised to 4%, which was thought to scare off the shorts. However, the price of Alpaca Coin changed its face again, plummeting from $0.27 to $0.067, and the longs were caught off guard again. The market rules were completely invalid here, and the positive and negative factors became the "script-killing" props in the hands of the main players.
3. Small-cap coins become targets of manipulation, retail investors need to understand the “hidden rules of the cryptocurrency circle”
Why is $ALPACA so amazing? The key is: “easy to manipulate”. The lowest circulating market value was less than 4 million US dollars. The main force could easily pull up or smash the market with tens of millions of funds, which is equivalent to performing a big drama on a “mini stage”. The news of delisting has become a “traffic trigger”, attracting a large amount of funds to enter the market for gambling. After all, the currency circle has always been “black and red are also red”.
The funding fee mechanism is even more complicated. When there are too many shorts, the fee is raised to make the shorts continue to bleed; when there are too many longs, the market is dumped and the positions are liquidated to harvest. When retail investors enter the market, it is like entering the main force's "playground". It seems that there are opportunities everywhere, but in fact, there are pitfalls at every step. One investor lamented: "I thought I could fleece the main force, but in the end I became the sheep that was fleeced."
4. Survival Guide for Retail Investors: Risks are behind the excitement, and protecting the principal is the most important
As of now, the price of $ALPACA is still fluctuating violently. It is estimated that the main force will make some "small moves" before it is delisted. But remember: although the cryptocurrency circle is very lively, only a few people can really make money. As a retail investor, instead of staring at the K-line and your heartbeat speeds up, it is better to hold on to the principal - after all, only by staying alive can you wait for the next wave of opportunities.
This "delisting carnival" of Alpaca Coin will eventually become a joke in the cryptocurrency circle. But the lesson it leaves us is very real: in this market full of variables, staying sober is better than anything else.
