DEXE rockets to all-time high as short sellers get caught off guard

DEXE has reached a new all-time high of $48.91 as rising on-chain activity, whale accumulation, and a wave of short liquidations have kept the DeFi token's rally intact despite entering heavily overbought territory.

According to blockchain analytics platform Santiment, DEXE's latest breakout has been supported by a measurable network. 

Network growth recorded its fourth-largest day on record after 161 new wallets were created, while whale activity also climbed to its fourth-highest day of 2026 with 11 transactions worth more than $100,000.

The analytics firm attributed the rally to a combination of DEXE's technical breakout, renewed interest in decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance and AI-linked governance narratives, together with whale buying in a token that still trades with relatively limited exchange liquidity.

Unlike many sharp rallies, retail participation has remained subdued.

Santiment noted that social volume has not increased in line with price, adding that wallets and whale activity are moving ahead of the crowd, which it described as a potentially healthy sign for the ongoing trend.

Additional market data also points to derivatives traders helping fuel the move.

Over the past day, roughly US$1.2 million (approx. $2.1 million) in short positions were liquidated compared with about $140,700 in long liquidations, indicating that traders betting against the rally were forced to buy back positions as prices climbed.

Those liquidations appear to have reinforced an existing bullish trend. 

Over the past several months, DEXE has steadily advanced as improvements to the DeXe Protocol's decentralised governance and asset management infrastructure have renewed interest in its long-term utility. 

At the same time, capital rotating into selected mid-cap DeFi projects while Bitcoin traded sideways has added further demand for the token.

DEXE price analysis

After spending several sessions consolidating around the $28-29 region, DEXE broke above resistance and entered price discovery, extending its seven-day gain to more than 90% before setting a fresh record high.

The daily chart shows price trading well above previous resistance, with the Volume Profile Visible Range (VPVR) indicating relatively little historical trading activity above current levels. 

DEXE/USDT 1-day price chart. Source: TradingView.

With limited overhead supply, Fibonacci extension levels identify the next upside targets around $51.53, followed by approximately $66.21 and $75.28 if buying momentum remains strong.

The 4-hour chart is also favouring the buyers as of press time.

The 20-day exponential moving average remains above the 50, 100 and 200 EMAs, maintaining a bullish alignment, while the MACD has stayed above its signal line with positive histogram bars, indicating upward momentum has yet to reverse.

DEXE/USDT 4-hour price chart, Source: TradingView.

The pace of the advance has left the token extended after an almost vertical move over recent sessions. 

Should buyers pause, the first area to watch lies around $44-45, where recent breakout support coincides with one of the largest nearby liquidity clusters identified on the 24-hour liquidation heatmap.

See below:

DEXE 24-hour liquidation heatmap. Source: Coinglass.

The same heatmap also shows dense liquidation pockets just above the current price between roughly $49.50 and $50.50, with additional clusters extending toward $52-54. 

If DEXE clears those levels, another round of short liquidations could add fresh buying pressure, much like the squeeze that helped drive the latest breakout.

For now, bulls are expected to drive the rally as long as the price remains above recent breakout support. 

Whether the rally extends further or begins to cool will likely depend on whether buyers generate enough demand to absorb profit-taking while pushing through the next concentration of leveraged short positions above $50.