How Bitcoin crashed Aptos’ [APT] token unlock party
- APT tokens, valued at $351 million, were released into circulation.
- Bitcoin’s plunge triggered a double-digit decrease for the token.
Layer-1 blockchain Aptos [APT] unlocked 6.24% of its total supply on the 12th of April. But the market crash, led by Bitcoin [BTC], put a stop to the optimism around the event.
Unlocking tokens, and moving them into circulation, have effects on price. In some cases, the event causes high volatility, and the increase in supply causes the value of the token involved to decline.
At the time the APT tokens were released, they were worth over $351 million. Before the unlock, the Aptos community was hyped about it, with some predictions noting that the price might rally afterward.
No event is big enough than the king
But then, Bitcoin dropped to $65,000, and altcoins, including APT, were not spared from the onslaught. At press time, the price of the Aptos native token was $10.13.
This value meant that the cryptocurrency had lost 12.57% of its value in the last 24 hours. Beyond the price, Bitcoin’s correction affected some other metrics on Aptos’ network.
One of the most affected was the volume. In the early hours of the 12th of April, APT’s volume was less than 200 million. Fast-forward to the time of writing, the volume had increased to 543.09 million.
An increase in volume indicates rising interest in a cryptocurrency. But it is not all the time the surge in volume means a spike in buying pressure.
For APT, it seemed like the other way around, with evidence shown by the price.
However, it seems that the token might not be done with the downturn yet. If the volume falls later, while APT’s downtrend continues, the decline might become weak. Hence, a rebound could be next.
In this instance, APT might attempt to revisit $12. But if Aptos’ volume continues to decrease while the price falls, a further plunge could be an option.
Should this be the case, the price of the token might drop below $10.
Watch out! Something is brewing
Meanwhile, social volume around the project dropped. Before Bitcoin came into the picture, APT’s social volume was expected to increase considering the scheduled unlock.
However, the decline here was proof that the price collapse of the broader market overshadowed it. If not, search for Aptos might have jumped.
Likewise, social dominance also fell, indicating that discussions around the project were nowhere near previous highs. For the price, the drop in Social Dominance could be great.
This is because a surge in the metric would have implied that hype around it. At this point, it could be difficult for the price to rally harder.
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But buying when there is little to no attention might make participants who take action early to the game. For the time being, APT might continue moving sideways.
However, if Bitcoin retests $70,000, the token might climb higher, and a 50% increase could be possible.