December will see a massive influx of tokens into the crypto market. Token Unlocks estimates that nearly $750 million of vested digital assets will be freed from their lock-up periods. These token unlocks are part of the vesting mechanisms that many crypto projects use to allocate their tokens to various stakeholders, such as investors, founders, employees, and partners, over a certain period.
The decentralized exchange dYdX will be the most significant contributor to the token unlocks, as it plans to release 150 million tokens currently vested for its investors, founders, and employees in December. These tokens have a market value of almost $500 million, based on the data from CoinGecko.
The dYdX token is the native token of the dYdX platform, which enables users to trade, lend, and borrow different crypto assets on a non-custodial and permissionless platform. The token was introduced in September 2021 and was initially given to the platform’s users through a retroactive airdrop.
📢Token Unlock Update📢
dYdX Trading Inc., dYdX Foundation and certain parties to the Warrants to Purchase Tokens signed an amendment to, among other things, postpone the initial release date applicable to investor $DYDX tokens to Dec 1, 2023
Blog: https://t.co/froqUPL3ay
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— dYdX Foundation 🦔 (@dydxfoundation) January 25, 2023
The tokens issued by dYdX were initially expected to be released in February 2022. However, the exchange announced in January 2022 that it would extend the lock-up period by 10 months, stating that it wanted to align the interests of the token holders with the long-term vision of the project. Therefore, the tokens will be unlocked on December 1, 2023, at 12:00 am UTC. After the first unlock date in December, the company will release more tokens between January 2024 and June 2024 until the total supply of 1 billion tokens is fully distributed.
Besides dYdX, other projects will also release their locked token allocations soon. According to Token Unlocks, a token data tracker, Optimism, an Ethereum layer-2 network, will also unlock 24 million Optimism (OP) tokens, valued at around $41 million, on November 30. The OP token is the native Optimism token, a scaling solution that aims to enhance the speed and efficiency of Ethereum transactions. The token was launched in July 2021 and was initially distributed to the Optimism team, investors, and ecosystem partners.
In addition to dYdX and Optimism, the decentralized finance protocol 1inch Network will unlock around 98 million 1inch (1INCH) tokens on December 1. The tokens are valued at about $33 million at the time of writing, based on the data from CoinGecko. The 1INCH token is the governance and utility token of the 1inch Network, a decentralized protocol network offering various services such as aggregation, liquidity, and governance. The token was released in December 2020 and given away to platform users via a backward-looking airdrop.
The proof-of-stake blockchain project Aptos is also scheduled to be one of the initiatives that will unlock a significant amount of tokens in December. According to Token Unlocks data, Aptos will unlock approximately 25 million tokens, valued at roughly $180 million, on December 12. The Aptos token is the native token of Aptos, a blockchain platform that claims to offer high scalability, security, and interoperability. The token was launched in June 2021 and sold to investors through a private sale.
The upcoming token unlocks could significantly impact the crypto market, as they could potentially increase the supply and liquidity of the tokens, as well as affect the price and demand. After their tokens are unlocked, some holders might sell them, while others might decide to keep them for future profits. The market reaction may also depend on the performance and popularity of the projects, as well as the overall sentiment and trend of the crypto industry.
