ZEC drops over 6%, bulls and bears fiercely battle, the largest long adds positions worth $12.35 million, the largest short faces a 47% unrealized loss.

ZEC experienced a rapid decline and rebound on January 8th, with the price bouncing from a low of $449 to around $465, a drop of 6.4%. This volatility triggered intense on-chain confrontation between bulls and bears: the largest bull whale of ZEC (0x152) decisively increased positions at a critical moment when holdings turned from profit to loss, while the largest bear was caught in deep floating losses. Meanwhile, the “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” continued to increase short positions against the trend.

Bullish Aggressive Positioning and Risk Commitment

Hyperliquid’s largest ZEC bull whale (0x152) demonstrated clear T+ ability and risk tolerance during this decline. According to Coinbob monitoring, the whale decisively added to its position near $459, increasing by 2,486 ZEC within 10 minutes, worth approximately $1.14 million. More aggressively, over the past 20 hours, this whale has accumulated a total of 9,871 ZEC, totaling a position increase of $4.54 million.

Current Position of Bulls

This whale currently holds a 10x leveraged long position of 1,235,000 USD worth of ZEC, with an average entry price of $463. This means that even if the price drops another roughly 5%, the whale could face liquidation risk. This aggressive position-building reflects strong short-term bullish sentiment on ZEC but also entails significant risk exposure.

Bearish Dilemma and Divergence

In stark contrast to the aggressive bulls, the largest ZEC bear whale is in a deep predicament. The bear’s position is approximately $17.48 million, with an average entry price of $419, and floating losses of $1.64 million, a loss ratio of 47%. More importantly, this whale has not adjusted its position recently, indicating it may be in a passive holding state.

Divergence within the Bear Camp

Interestingly, although the largest bear whale is in trouble, another bear force known as the “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” has continued to add to its short positions over the past few hours. This bear has increased its short position to $2.08 million and is still adding. This suggests that the bear camp has not completely given up and is seeking opportunities amid divergence.

Market Context and Risk Assessment

From the data, ZEC is currently priced at $460.98, down 7.21% in 24 hours, with a 7-day decline of 9.40%, but a 16.41% increase over 30 days. ZEC ranks 16th in the crypto market cap list, with a 24-hour trading volume of $780.55 million. This level of trading volume indicates that whale-sized operations can have a substantial impact on the price.

The combined confrontation of the $12.35 million long and $17.48 million short positions approaches a total of nearly $30 million, forming a significant force in the ZEC market of this size. Once this standoff breaks, it could trigger a chain of liquidations.

Future Trend Observation

Based on current on-chain data, bulls are clearly more aggressive, while bears appear passive. The behavior of adding positions during a decline usually reflects strong expectations of a rebound, but the high risk of 10x leverage means that if this expectation fails, rapid liquidation could occur. Although the bear camp is in trouble, the continued addition by the “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” indicates that the bears are still seeking reversal opportunities.

From a technical perspective, ZEC rebounded from a low of $449 to $465, but whether it can break through the bull average of $463 is critical. If it can break through effectively, bulls may further increase positions; if it repeatedly falls below, the bears’ accumulation could attract more followers.

Summary

This wave of decline in ZEC has triggered fierce on-chain confrontation between bulls and bears. The largest bull whale has shown a strong willingness to add positions and bear risk, accumulating $4.54 million in the past 20 hours and currently holding a 10x leveraged long position worth $12.35 million. In contrast, the largest bear whale is in a deep floating loss of 47%, in a passive position. Although the bear camp is diverging, the “Shanzhai Air Force Leader” continues to add to its short positions against the trend, reflecting fundamental disagreement between bulls and bears on ZEC’s direction. In the short term, this confrontation’s potential rupture could trigger chain liquidations, warranting ongoing attention.