Crypto market to unlock $4.5B in tokens in September

Crypto projects are set to unlock about $4.5 billion in vested tokens in September, according to data tracker Tokenomist. 

Tokenomist data that about $1.17 billion will come from cliff unlocks, while $3.36 billion will be released through linear unlocks. About $4.5 billion in tokens will become available to investors, project teams and other stakeholders as expire. 

Cliff unlocks are typically larger, one-time token releases that happen at the end of a specified lockup period. This often affects the market more due to supply shocks. On the other hand, linear unlocks distribute tokens over time, which helps smooth out the impact on the supply. 

Projects like Sui (), Fasttoken (), Arbitrum () and Aptos () are among the biggest crypto projects unlocking millions in vested tokens in September. 

Crypto projects to unlock vested tokens in September

Sui leads September’s token unlocks with over $153 million in tokens scheduled to be released. Tokenomist data shows that the network has only released 35.1% of its supply, which means a significant portion remains locked. 

FTN comes second with $90 million in tokens to be added to the supply. Unlike Sui, FTN has already released over 96% of its tokens. This means the unlock represents a smaller relative increase in supply. 

Aptos follows with almost $50 million in tokens set to be unlocked, while Arbitrum trails closely with about $48 million scheduled for release next month.

Other notable unlocks include Starknet, releasing $16.85 million in tokens and Sei, which will add about $16.49 million to its supply. Projects like ZK and Immutable will release $10.7 million and $13.4 million, respectively. 

Related:

Market turns from unlock anxiety into a more nuanced perspective

Vincent Kadar, the CEO of security token platform Polymath, that while investors used to get unlock anxiety from token unlocks, the conversation has shifted. 

Kadar said sophisticated investors evaluate the economics, adoption levels, governance transparency and incentives aligning with long-term value. He said the market is focusing less on short-term impact and is giving more attention to fundamentals. 

Kadar said that the shift is constructive for the industry overall, adding that the conversation is changing as blockchain projects grow and connect with public markets. 

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