$13B in crypto token unlocks incoming – Volatility set to surge across AI, memecoin sectors!
Assessing the potential market volatility ahead of $13 billion worth of supply pressure.
- About $13 billion worth of token supply will hit the markets by the end of Q2
- However, Pumpfun’s PUMP launch could massively impact market liquidity
Crypto token unlocks in Q2 will hit roughly $13 billion, with June accounting for a relatively low amount of $3 billion. In Q1, $16 billion worth of unlocked tokens hit the market, and could have potentially added to the selling pressure at the start of the year.
June’s token unlocks
Overall, most of the unlocks were concentrated in the first half of the year, according to Crypto Rank data.
In the first week of June alone, $609M worth of tokens from Worldcoin [WLD], Solana [SOL], Official Trump [TRUMP], and others flooded the market as part of the emission schedule. Notably, SOL released $80M worth of supply this week.
Based on category, AI and AI agent segments accounted for about 20% or $590M out of the June’s $3 billion unlock. The memecoin sector, like TRUMP, accounted for $257M (9%) while “made in U.S” tokens like SOL had a 40% share ($1.2 billion).
That being said, market reaction has been mixed to the token unlocks, noted Tokenomist in its weekly update. The firm highlighted that Zebec Network pumped 350% in the past month, despite adding 8% of ZBCN supply over the same period.
However, other tokens like PYTH faced massive selling pressure and tanked by 22% after 58% of its token supply was unlocked.
Besides, there were brand new projects that had their TGE (token generation event) in June. For example, blockchain infrastructure provider Lagrange Labs unlocked 193 million LA (worth $274M) on 04 June.
Among the top tokens with the highest unlocks, Ethena [ENA] was down 14% on the price charts. Any extra downward pressure from more token supply could push ENA below $0.30.
For the memecoin sector, the much-anticipated launch of Pumpfun in June could spark a liquidity crunch, according to most analysts. If so, the entire market could face a correction, as seen during TRUMP and MELANIA’s debuts in January.
