The Market Is Leveraging Up on Small-Cap Coins: Altseason or a Bull Trap?

The chart below shows the relationship between market cap rank and the OI/Market Cap ratio (open interest relative to spot cap).
A high ratio means derivatives are driving price action — which increases the risk of a liquidation squeeze.
Now focus on the bottom-right section (Rank 500+ tokens) like AGT, EPT, BDXN, KOM, FHE, GRCK. Their OI/Market Cap ratios are nearing or exceeding 1.0.
→ This means the size of open leveraged positions is equal to or greater than their total spot market cap.

Current-season meme tokens like PUMP, FARTCOIN, MOODENG, SPK (ranked under 300) are also seeing high OI ratios of 0.6–0.8.
→ Market makers are using leverage to move prices efficiently with minimal capital.
Mid-cap names (Rank 100–300) like AI16Z, TRB, ORDI, GOAT, POPCAT are sitting around 0.3–0.4.
→ Indicating market makers haven’t gone full risk-on yet, and retail hasn't fully FOMO'd in.

Until the broader market pushes past 0.5 OI/Market Cap, a major crash isn’t necessarily imminent.
For now, leverage is rising—but we’re not at the top yet.