PIPPIN, one of the recently returned AI agent tokens, reached new all-time highs. The rally is seen as unsustainable, with attempts to short the asset.
PIPPIN remained one of the top gainers for days, after the overall crypto market recovery. The AI agent token expanded above $0.32, extending its previous gains. PIPPIN rose higher even than its previous peak during the initial enthusiasm about AI agent tokens.
Previously, PIPPIN peaked at $0.24, dropping to lows of $0.01 where it spent most of the year. PIPPIN showed the market had enough liquidity to pump some assets, even without an all-out altcoin season.
PIPPIN rises on decentralized trading
The token mostly relies on Raydium and Gate for its liquidity, making it relatively easy to pump a limited market. The share of Raydium also increased to 31% of volumes, with a slight price premium up to $0.35. PIPPIN was the most actively traded token on Raydium as of December 10, getting ahead of FARTCOIN and JellyJelly.
On Raydium, PIPPIN has 44 liquidity providers and its main pool holds $12.5M. Whales are actively trading PIPPIN, while also extracting value. The leading whale locked in $7.6M in realized gains from the token.
Whale activity from top traders is picking up at the current levels, with ongoing buying and selling. The token has over 31K holders from its initial launch, and may feel selling pressure from retail as well.
PIPPIN open interest rises to an all-time high
The recent PIPPIN rally also activated derivative markets, with bets on both an ongoing expansion or a crash.
PIPPIN open interest rose to $135M, with the most significant spike in volumes on Binance Futures. OKX and Zoomex futures also added to the general trend.
At this stage, over 72% of all position holders are shorting PIPPIN, a risky move that could lead to even further price expansion. Based on the liquidation heatmap, however, PIPPIN has already attacked the available short positions, with minimal liquidity left to $0.39.
Short sellers are expecting a bigger price drop and attempting to sunset the rally. Funding rates for PIPPIN have turned negative on Binance, and dipped into deeply negative territory in the past week.
The main concerns are that the PIPPIN project does not offer real innovation, and mostly relies on its meme status. Some AI models retain residual communities. In the case of PIPPIN, the latest price rally increased mindshare by more than 1,600% in the past few days, during the 835% price rally.
PIPPIN also rose after a series of older OG meme and AI tokens reawakened, including POPCAT, JellyJelly, Fartcoin, and others. Some of the pumps were short-lived, but some assets saw a return of liquidity and several rallies in the past months. Aggressive futures trading remained highly risky for liquidations after unexpected price moves, due to fears of market manipulation.
For PIPPIN, rumors also surfaced of an eventual Binance listing, while scammer bots started spreading a risky false airdrop claim page.
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