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

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

“A
rapid
succession
of
nearly
$2
billion
of
token
unlocks
during
the
next
ten
weeks
could
lower
the
market
for
altcoins,”
crypto
analytics
firm
10x
Research
noted
in
a
Wednesday
report.

Large
token
unlocks
in
crypto
are
usually
bearish
events,
increasing
supply
by
distributing
assets
that
were
previously
locked
up
in
vesting
contracts
to
team
members,
organizations
and
early
investors
including
venture
capital
firms.

Over
the
next
two
months,
some
$97
million
of
aptos

(APT),
$79
million
of
starkware

(STRK),
$94
million
of
arbitrum

(ARB),
$53
million
of
Immutable
X’s

(IMX),
$330
million
of
Avalanche’s

(AVAX),
$64
million
of
optimism

(OP),
$28
million
of
PRIME,
nearly
$1
billion
of
sui

(SUI),
$48
million
of

ethena
(ENA),
$171
million
of
Altlayer’s
ALT
and
$135
million
of
XAI
tokens
will
be
added
to
circulation,
according
to
data
compiled
in
the
report.

“Venture
capital
investors
might
be
pressured
to
lock
in
recent
gains,
which
could
cap
any
upside
performance
of
tokens
with
positive
momentum,
especially
those
where
unlocks
become
available,”
the
report
said.

Over
$11
billion
worth
of
bitcoin

(BTC)
will
be
distributed
to
creditors
of
crypto
exchange
Gemini’s
Earn
program
and
long-defunct
crypto
marketplace
Mt.
Gox,
K33
Research
analyst
Velte
Lunde
warned
in
a

Tuesday
report.

Read
more:



Mt.
Gox’s
Looming
$9B
Payout
Could
Weigh
on
Bitcoin
Prices,
K33
Research
Warns

“The
next
months
are
rigged
to
see
waves
of
good
old
crypto
FUD,”
said
Lunde,
referencing
the
popular

crypto
acronym
for
fear,
uncertainty
and
doubt.

Amid
upcoming
supply
events,
one
market
observer
suggested
that
the
FTX
repayments
might
offer
some
relief.

Pending
bankruptcy
court
approval,
some
$14-$16
billion
of
funds
in
U.S.
dollars
could
be
paid
out
to
creditors,
and
a
good
chunk
of
that
may
flow
back
to
the
crypto
market,
said
Arthur
Cheong,
founder
and
chief
investment
officer
of
DeFiance
Capital.

“Expect
at
least
$3-$5
billion
of
crypto-native
liquidity
to
be
injected
back
into
the
market,”
Cheong
said
in
an

X
post
Wednesday.

Late
in
the
U.S
day,
the
broad
CoinDesk
20
Index
was
lower
by
3.4%
over
the
past
24
hours,
with
bitcoin
down
2.5%
to
$61,500
and
ether

(ETH)
lower
by
3.6%.
Bitcoin
cash

(BCH)
and
Solana

(SOL)
were
the
index’s
worst
performers,
each
off
by
more
than
7%.