Crypto Markets Under Pressure as $2B Worth of Altcoin Token Unlocks and $11B Bitcoin Distribution Loom

Cryptocurrencies are still stuck in the correction phase, but a wave of supply events worth billions of dollars could further delay a meaningful recovery.

“Nearly $2 billion worth of consecutive token unlocks over the next ten weeks could depress the altcoin market,” crypto analytics firm 10x Research said in a report on Wednesday.

Major token unlocks in crypto are generally bearish events; Supply increases as assets previously locked in vesting agreements are distributed to team members, organizations, and early investors, including venture capital firms.

Over the next two months, approximately $97 million aptos {{APT}}, $79 million starkware {{STRK}}, $94 million arbitrum {{ARB}}, $53 million Immutable X {{IMX}}, $330 million Avalanche {{AVAX}} from {{AVAX}}, $64 million from optimism {{OP}}, $28 million from PRIME, nearly $1 billion from sui {{SUI}}, $48 million from ethena (ENA), $171 million from ALT and Altlayer $135 million XAI tokens will be added to circulation, according to the data compiled in the report.

“Venture capital investors may be under pressure to lock in recent gains, which could limit any upside performance of tokens with positive momentum, especially where unlocks are possible,” the report said.

It’s not just altcoins facing selling pressure

K33 Research analyst Velte Lunde said in a report on Tuesday that crypto exchange Gemini’s Earn program and long-dormant crypto marketplace Mt. He warned that over $11 billion worth of Bitcoin {{BTC}} would be distributed to Gox’s creditors.

Read more: K33 Research, Mt. Gox’s Upcoming $9 Billion Payment Could Affect Bitcoin Prices, Warns

“The coming months are poised to see good old crypto FUD waves,” Lunde said, referring to the popular crypto acronym that stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt.

During the upcoming supply events, one market observer suggested that FTX refunds could provide some relief.

Arthur Cheong, founder and chief investment officer of DeFiance Capital, said that pending bankruptcy court approval, approximately $14-16 billion in funds could be paid out to creditors in US dollars, and much of it could flow back into the crypto market.

“We expect at least $3-5 billion of crypto-native liquidity to be injected back into the market,” Cheong said in an X post on Wednesday.

Ugly action in crypto on Wednesday

Later in the US day, the broad CoinDesk 20 Index was down 3.4% over the past 24 hours; Bitcoin fell 2.5% to $61,500, while Ethereum {{ETH}} fell 3.6%. Bitcoin Cash {{BCH}} and Solana {{SOL}} were the index’s worst performers, each down more than 7%.

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