I am telling which tokens will be unlocked in the coming week, and how large unlocks may affect market dynamics.
An unlock (English: unlock) refers to the unlocking of tokens that were previously frozen under the terms of investment rounds or other funding programs.
Typically, the team carefully develops the tokenomics to avoid significant selling pressure at various stages of unlocking, thereby preventing a drop in the token price. However, some factors, such as lack of liquidity or profit-taking by early investors immediately after token unlocking, can severely impact the asset's quotations.
The article highlights five important unlocks to watch for in the coming week.
Unlock date: December 16
Number of unlocked tokens: 18.53 million ADA
Circulating supply: 35.82 billion ADA
The Cardano blockchain, known for its focus on sustainability, security, and scalability, plays an important role in the development of decentralized applications and smart contracts. On December 16, the project will unlock over 18 million ADA allocated for staking and the treasury fund.
Unlock date: December 16
Number of unlocked tokens: 92.65 million ARB
Circulating supply: 4.09 billion ARB
Arbitrum, developed by Offchain Labs, is the leading solution for scaling Ethereum. Launched in August 2021, the blockchain has received support from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Polychain Capital, Ribbit Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Pantera Capital, Mark Cuban, and Coinbase.
Next week, Arbitrum will unlock 92.65 million ARB worth about $91 million. These tokens will be distributed among the team, advisors, and investors.
APE
Unlock date: December 17
Number of unlocked tokens: 15.60 million APE
Circulating supply: 721.44 million APE
ApeCoin is the native token of the Ape ecosystem from Yuga Labs. On December 17, the project will unlock over 15 million tokens, which will be distributed among the treasury, founders, and the team.
Previously, the price of APE significantly decreased after major unlocks. However, given the growing interest in the NFT market, the impact of this unlock may not be as strong.
ENA
Unlock date: December 18
Number of unlocked tokens: 12.86 million ENA
Circulating supply: 2.93 billion ENA
ENA is the native token of the DeFi protocol Ethena, the issuer of the synthetic dollar USDe. The asset is used for governance of the ecosystem's capabilities, as well as a mechanism to incentivize participation and investments in the protocol. The debut of ENA was accompanied by an airdrop from Ethena Labs, resulting in the community receiving tokens worth $450 million.
On December 18, the project will unlock over 12 million ENA, which will be used for ecosystem development.
#SpaseID (ID)
Unlock date: December 22
Number of unlocked tokens: 78.49 million ID
Circulating supply: 430.50 million ID
Space ID is a universal decentralized identification protocol that connects people, assets, and dApps across different blockchains. It allows users to utilize a single domain name to represent their identity across various applications and networks.
On December 22, the project will unlock over 78 million ID tokens, distributing them among the ecosystem fund, team, community, and participants of several sales rounds.
Among other cliff unlocks next week are Echelon Prime (PRIME) and Eigen Layer ($EIGEN ). The total value of tokens that will be released is over $270 million.