Unlocking is the unlocking of tokens that were previously frozen under the terms of investment rounds or other funding programs.
Typically, the team carefully works out the tokenomics so as not to cause a lot of selling pressure at various stages of the unlock and thereby not bring down the price of the token. However, some factors - for example, a lack of liquidity or profit-taking by early investors immediately after the tokens are unlocked - can seriously affect the asset’s quotes.
The editors of BeInCrypto have selected 7 important unlocks that are worth keeping an eye on in May.
1. NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Unlock date: May 4
Number of tokens unlocked: 7.75 million (0.78% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $14.98 million
Total market capitalization: $1.73 billion
Near Protocol is an open-source, high-throughput smart contract platform designed for building decentralized applications. The NEAR ecosystem hosts several hundred protocols and decentralized applications - data storage services, oracles, custodial services, wallets, liquidity providers and many other projects.
The next NEAR unlock will take place on May 4th. Most of the “unfrozen” tokens—3.2 million—are intended for developers. Another 2.83 million will be distributed as community grants, with the remainder used as transaction fees.
2. Stepn (GMT)
Unlock date: May 9
Number of tokens unlocked: 87.92 million (1.47% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $29.69 million
Total market capitalization: $249.98 million
STEPN is a well-known Web3 application with SocialFi and GameFi elements on the Solana blockchain. The developers offer users to earn money from physical activity through monetization of running and walking. The platform combines augmented reality (AR) components with gameplay, and its tokenomics is built on the vesting model, which has recently become common for many crypto projects.
Vesting is the freezing of purchased tokens for a certain period. It allows you to preserve the value of the cryptocurrency, maintain control over its value and maintain an optimal balance between supply and demand.
Vesting can be:
linear, when tokens are unfrozen in equal parts over a certain period of time
twisted, when tokens are distributed in random parts over different time periods
Starting March 1, 2023, the platform will unlock 812,903 GMT daily for incentive payments, approximately 580,000 tokens for the treasury, and a similar amount for the team. However, the upcoming unlock will be much larger, and the release of so many coins onto the market could play a bad joke on GMT quotes.
3. DAO Maker (DAO)
Unlock date: May 9
Number of tokens unlocked: 15.07 million (5.37% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $22.9 million
Total market capitalization: $252.64 million
DAO Maker is a fundraising platform for investing in new cryptocurrency projects. The company's flagship product is DAO Pad, a multi-investment platform that gives DAO holders the opportunity to participate in token sales of other projects in the early stages. Such famous projects as My Neighbor Alice (ALICE), Orion Protocol (ORN), Seascape Network (CWS), Infinity Pad (IPAD) and others were launched on DAO Maker.
Most of the tokens unlocked on May 9 will be intended for the project team, advisors and the DAO Maker Foundation.
4. dYdX (DYDX)
Unlock date: May 10
Number of tokens unlocked: 6.44 million (0.64% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $16.93 million
Total market capitalization: $416.58 million
dYdX is the largest decentralized derivatives trading protocol. It is currently in the process of transitioning from StarkEx, a Layer 2 (L2) network on Ethereum created by StarkWare, to its own blockchain based on Cosmos. It's a five-phase plan that focuses on incremental testing before final deployment.
Scheduled token unlocks can be useful for tokenomics and long-term user empowerment. But in the short term, they tend to undermine prices. Therefore, the entry of 6.44 million DYDX into the market may have a negative impact on the asset’s quotes.
5. Internet Computer (ICP)
Unlock date: May 11
Number of tokens unlocked: 3.31 million (0.71% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $21.13 million
Total market capitalization: $2.8 billion
Internet Computer is a project to create a decentralized cloud infrastructure on the blockchain, developed by the DFINITY Foundation. The main technology of Internet Computer is Open Internet Service. This code is built into the blockchain and allows the service to operate autonomously, without access to the main network, relying on user support.
On May 11, the project will unlock more than 3 million tokens belonging to participants in the strategic and seed rounds, so on this day you can expect increased volatility in the ICP price.
6. Apts (APT)
Unlock date: May 12
Number of tokens unlocked: 4.54 million (0.45% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $48.45 million
Total market capitalization: $2.02 billion
Over the past few months, the native Aptos blockchain token APT has become one of the most talked about altcoins. The project has been repeatedly criticized by the crypto community for its tokenomics, which is largely dominated by venture capital. Most of the APT supply is still locked - unlocks will occur every month for the next ten years.
7. BitDAO (BIT)
Unlock date: May 15
Number of tokens unlocked: 187.51 million (1.88% of total supply)
Value of unlocked tokens: $93.48 million
Total market capitalization: $908.9 million
BitDAO is one of the world's largest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), backed by Pantera Capital, Dragonfly, Bybit exchange and other well-known players in the crypto industry. The number of coins that will hit the market on April 15 significantly exceeds the current daily trading volumes. Therefore, such a large fork could potentially trigger a serious drop in the price of BIT.
