Crypto Market Braces for $250M+ Token Unlocks: Key Projects & Impact Analysis

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By Tyler Matthews

The cryptocurrency market is preparing for a significant redistribution of digital assets this week, as over $250 million worth of tokens are scheduled to be released from their vesting schedules. These large-scale unlocks, primarily from projects like Blast and Across Protocol, are critical events for market observers, as they can introduce substantial selling pressure and influence liquidity dynamics across various token ecosystems. Understanding the nature and scale of these releases—whether as one-time “cliff” unlocks or gradual “linear” distributions—is essential for assessing potential market impacts and investor sentiment.

Key Unlock Categories

The upcoming week, spanning June 23 to June 30, will see a diverse range of token unlocks, predominantly categorized into large cliff releases and continuous linear distributions. According to data from Tokenomist and CoinMarketCap, a substantial portion of the total value is concentrated in a few major projects, with a smaller segment distributed across numerous less visible tokens.

Cliff Unlocks: Major One-Time Releases

Cliff unlocks represent a large, single release of tokens, often following an initial lock-up period. Such events typically involve values exceeding $5 million and can exert considerable selling pressure if recipients choose to liquidate their holdings immediately.

  • Blast leads this category, with 10.50 billion BLAST tokens valued at approximately $21.71 million. This single event accounts for over 55% of the total unlock supply in this segment during the specified period.
  • Across Protocol (ACX) follows with a notable release of 100.00 million ACX tokens, worth about $13.82 million. This particular unlock represents 80% of the project’s unlock supply, indicating a significant portion of its circulating tokens will become liquid.
  • Other substantial cliff unlocks include Venom, releasing 59.26 million VENOM tokens valued at $10.00 million, and SOON, with 41.88 million tokens worth $8.26 million. AltLayer concludes the major cliff unlocks with 240.10 million ALT tokens valued at $6.38 million.

Collectively, these five projects contribute approximately $60 million to the total cliff unlock value, with Blast and Across Protocol forming the dominant share.

Linear Unlocks: Gradual Token Distributions

In contrast to cliff unlocks, linear unlocks involve a consistent, often daily, release of tokens over an extended period. This method typically results in a more diffused market impact compared to a sudden influx from a cliff unlock.

  • Solana (SOL) stands out in the linear unlock category, with 465.77 thousand SOL tokens valued at $61.83 million scheduled for daily release. While a significant value, this represents a minor fraction (0.09%) of its circulating supply.
  • Worldcoin (WLD) is set to release 37.23 million WLD tokens, amounting to $30.71 million, affecting 2.69% of its circulating supply.
  • Other projects with substantial linear distributions include Celestia (TIA) with 50.40 thousand tokens valued at $15.45 million, Dogecoin (DOGE) releasing 95.89 million tokens worth $14.69 million, and Avalanche (AVAX) with 700.00 thousand tokens valued at $11.65 million.
  • Additional projects undergoing linear unlocks include Sui (SUI), MORPHO, ETHFI, Polkadot (DOT), IP, and Jupiter (JTO), each contributing several million dollars in token value to the market over the week.

Smaller Scale Unlocks

Beyond the major releases, several other cryptocurrency projects with lower market capitalization are also undergoing unlock events. While individually smaller in scale, their collective impact contributes to the broader market liquidity. Examples include Silencio (SLC) with tokens valued at $145,584.5 and LightLink (LL) with tokens worth $268,633.58. These smaller unlocks, while less likely to cause widespread market shifts, are still relevant for the specific communities and investors involved with these projects.

The cumulative effect of these scheduled token unlocks underscores the ongoing evolution of cryptocurrency project vesting schedules. As a substantial volume of tokens transitions from locked states to circulating supply, market participants will closely monitor trading volumes and price stability to gauge the absorption capacity of the ecosystem.

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