LAB has risen more than 16% in the past 24 hours, but whether this rebound can continue remains a point of contention in the market. The price increase is mainly driven by buying in the futures market, while there is no consensus in the spot market, and short-term trends are still affected by liquidity distribution.
Previously, LAB had garnered attention due to crypto investigator ZachXBT's questioning of its token supply structure. As the controversy subsided, LAB broke upwards after about two weeks of sideways trading, but failed to hold its gains and subsequently showed signs of pullback.
Increased inflow of funds into futures markets
CoinGlass data shows that in the past 24 hours, the LAB derivatives market saw an inflow of over $8.46 million, exceeding the outflow. The article also mentions that during the previous two-week consolidation phase, there was a significant accumulation of leveraged funds in the market.
According to statistical calculations, the cumulative leveraged funds during this period exceeded $633 million. Among them, May 2nd saw a significant single-day accumulation of funds, exceeding $114 million, indicating that short-term traders had strong expectations for a price breakout.
The spot market is moving in different directions.
Unlike the bullish trend in the futures market, the spot market has not given the same clear signal. Arkham data shows that some LAB tokens have flowed out of exchanges, reflecting some signs of increased holdings; but at the same time, some tokens have also flowed back into trading platforms.
For example, some wallets withdrew thousands of LAB from Gate, but almost the same number of tokens were transferred to KuCoin and AsterDEX. This means that spot market participants did not reach a consensus, with some funds choosing to hold and others preparing to trade or cash out.
Prices caught between liquidity at both ends
As prices surged, LAB triggered over $4 million in short liquidations in the past 24 hours, reaching a high of $5.82. The liquidations further drove prices up, creating new liquidity in the $5.50 to $6 range.
Meanwhile, a significant number of orders have accumulated in the $4 to $5 range. The current price is essentially sandwiched between two high-liquidity zones; if a concentrated sell-off occurs in either direction, volatility could amplify further.
If short positions continue to be squeezed, the price could retest the previous all-time high of $7.77; conversely, if long positions are breached, the price could fall back to around $4. Overall, this rally is largely driven by the derivatives market, and whether the spot market will follow suit remains to be seen.
