The crypto market will experience its second token unlock of over $3 billion for this year in May, according to Token Unlocks data.
Token unlocks involve the gradual release of coins initially held to discourage early investors or team members from rapidly selling their large-volume holdings. This process has consistently wielded considerable influence over the broader market conditions by amplifying the selling pressure on a digital asset.
Pyth, Aevo leads with over $1 billion unlock.
Two major players, Aevo and Pyth, lead the significant May token unlock, each set to release over $1 billion worth of tokens.
Aevo is gearing up to release 827.6 million tokens valued at $1.257 billion, marking an astounding 758% increase in its current supply. This unlock is slated for May 15.
Furthermore, the Layer-2 DEX roll-up will release 6.13 million AEVO tokens daily into circulation between May 16 and May 24. These tokens will primarily enter the DAO treasury, early private sale investors, and the project team.
On the other hand, Pyth Network, a decentralized oracle service provider built on Solana, plans to more than double its circulating token supply by unlocking 2.13 billion tokens worth approximately $1.25 billion on March 20.
This token unlock marks Pyth’s first release since its launch last November. The event aims to incentivize ecosystem participants, protocol developers, and early supporters.
Avalanche, others follow.
Beyond these mammoth unlocks, numerous other projects are gearing up for token releases in May.
Avalanche, a Layer 1 blockchain, will launch 9.54 million AVAX tokens valued at $332 million on May 22. Interestingly, this marks the second major token release for the blockchain network this year.
DeFi protocol dYdX will unlock 33.33 million tokens, representing 10% of its circulating supply valued at $71 million today. Similarly, USDe issuer Ethena will release approximately 4% of its circulating supply, equivalent to 53.6 million ENA tokens, on the same day.
Further, Memecoin is preparing to release 5.31 billion MEME tokens into circulation, amounting to $141 million and representing 31.92% of the token’s circulating supply.
Additional projects with scheduled unlock for this month include several Ethereum layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Starknet.