The floodgates open on Monday, and not everyone’s going to like what may come. Four crypto projects are unlocking about $76 million worth of tokens over the next week, setting up what could be the biggest test of investor confidence this month.
All four tokens are not new and have been previously allocated. They have been held by early backers and insiders, and their release into the market can influence supply and demand dynamics.
GRASS Takes the Lead
The first of the four crypto projects having unlocks this week is GRASS, which powers a decentralized data network that lets users share unused internet bandwidth to train AI models. Its unlock is scheduled for October 28, with 31.57 million tokens worth $13.80 million. That is 3.16% of the total supply, but it is 10.08% of the entire market cap. The project built decent traction, but experts opine that absorbing a tenth of the market value in new tokens is not exactly a cakewalk. Investors will be watching closely to see whether demand can keep up with supply or if this unlock puts short-term pressure on price.
SIGN’s Heavyweight Punch
Another token getting unlocked on October 28 is SIGN, which powers the Sign Protocol, a decentralized attestation network that lets users verify and record real-world data on-chain for AI and Web3 applications. It will unleash 189.18 million tokens worth $7.88 million. Sure, that’s only 1.89% of supply, but it represents a whopping 15.76% of market cap. That’s the biggest relative unlock this week. Analysts are taking a cautious stance, noting that smaller-cap tokens rarely handle this level of unlock pressure smoothly.
BONK’s Billion-Token Bonanza
October 31 will bring the turn of BONK, a Solana-based meme coin that became the network’s unofficial mascot, aiming to boost community engagement and liquidity across the Solana ecosystem. 504.43 billion BONK tokens will be unleashed. This may sound apocalyptic until you realize it is barely 0.57% of supply and 0.65% of market cap. The meme coin’s massive total supply means this unlock, worth about $7.67 million, might actually slide under the radar.
Ethena Wraps the Week
The last unlock will happen on November 2 of the Ethena token, which is the native utility token of the Ethena DeFi ecosystem, used for governance, staking, and accessing decentralized insurance and risk management services. 94.19 million ENA tokens worth $47.11 million will be unlocked, making the week’s biggest dollar unlock at 1.32% of market cap. The protocol has weathered previous unlocks reasonably well, showing that most of its holders are committed to the long term and are not looking for quick gains.
Experts aver it will be interesting to see how the week wraps up. Unlocks are not automatic sell signals. Projects with real usage and sticky communities often shrug them off. But tokens running on vibes alone tend to bleed. The coming week could be a test of resilience, but for tokens like BONK and Ethena, fundamentals and a loyal user base could keep them standing strong.
