Seven cryptocurrency projects, including Injective and Sui, will release new tokens worth at least $10 million into their circulating supply within the next month.
In total, around $560 million in cryptocurrencies are scheduled to unlock in January 2024, according to a TokenUnlocks dashboard. The unlocks will happen over varying periods, with some releases occurring within 72 hours and others occurring in tranches across 30 days.
These emissions have been designated for various participants, such as core contributors, charities, staking rewards, and investors.
Aptos (APT)
Aptos, a layer-one blockchain, will unlock 24.8 million APT tokens worth roughly $235 million at current prices. The tokens are spread across the Aptos Foundation, community incentives, core contributors, and investors. About 8% of APT’s circulating supply and the community allocation will claim the lion’s share.
Injective (INJ)
Just over 4% of Injective’s circulating supply is allocated to advisers, and the team will unlock by mid-late January. The 3.7 million coins are worth $137 million as INJ traded above $37 after dipping from its $44 all-time high set in late December.
Optimism (OP)
Optimism, one of Ethereum’s largest scaling solutions, will distribute 24 million OP tokens between core project contributors and investors. This unlock is about $87 million, accounting for less than 3% of Optmism’s circulating supply.
Axis Infinity (AXS)
3.4 million AXS, the native token of gaming project Axie Infinity, will be unlocked for staking rewards. It amounts to $31 million, making up 2.5% of AXS’s available supply.
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Sui (SUI)
Sui’s Community Access Program will receive $28 million of SUI coins in early January. 34.6 million SUI comprise this token unlock, around 3% of all tokens currently on the market.
Ape (APE)
Yuga Labs’ ApeCoin (APE) plans to disburse $26 million in crypto to the company, its founders, its treasury, and contributors to its phase two and three launch landmarks. There is also a charity allocation from the 15.6 million APE tokens unlocking mid-month.
Space ID (ID)
53 million ID coins are earmarked for strategic sales, token airdrops, ecosystem funds, marketing budgets, and the Space ID Foundation. The blockchain name service boasts the largest token unlock in January in terms of supply ratio. Indeed, the $16.6 million worth of ID tokens amount to 12% of its circulating supply.
It’s currently unclear if these tokens will be sold into the market as they are scheduled for different purposes. However, it is plausible that these unlocks might induce sell pressure on the respective tokens.
Another notable quality shared by most of these projects is that they are built on a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, the popular alternative to proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin (BTC).
Large token unlocks in January 2024 | Source: TokenUnlocks, WuBlockchain
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