Locked cryptocurrencies worth nearly $875 million are set to enter the market in June as the vesting periods for over 30 blockchain-based projects come to an end, according to data tracker Token Unlocks. The largest portion of tokens to be unlocked next month belong to Aptos (APT), Arbitrum (ARB), Starknet (STRK), and Sui (SUI).
In the crypto space, vesting is a common practice that aims to prevent project team members and early investors from selling their tokens too early. By implementing various mechanisms, vesting ensures that tokens are released gradually, preventing a sudden influx into the market that could lead to a decline in token prices.
The Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum is set to unlock 92.65 million ARB tokens, valued at $105.6 million, on June 16. Of this amount, approximately $64 million will be allocated to the project’s team and advisers, while $41.6 million will be released to its investors. Since the release of 1.1 billion ARB tokens on March 16, the token’s price has dropped by over 50%, from a high of $2.27 to $1.13 at the time of writing.
Another significant unlock in June comes from the layer-1 blockchain project Aptos, which will release 11.1 million APT tokens worth $102.6 million. The tokens will be distributed to the project’s foundation, community, core contributors, and investors.
Following these unlocks, the zero-knowledge proofs project Starknet will also release millions of tokens on June 15. Specifically, 64 million STRK tokens, valued at $78 million, will be unlocked for early contributors and investors.
Furthermore, the optimistic rollups project Optimism will unlock 31.34 million OP tokens, worth approximately $78 million. This follows a similar unlock in May for core contributors and investors.
On June 1, the layer-1 blockchain platform Sui will unlock 65 million tokens worth $66 million. These tokens will be released to Series A and Series B investors, early contributors, the Mysten Labs treasury, and the community reserve. In May, the project already released about $1 billion in crypto tokens.
Overall, the upcoming unlocks in June are expected to have a significant impact on the crypto market, as large quantities of locked tokens become available for trading.