The cryptocurrency market is preparing for another major token unlock event in May, with over $3 billion worth of tokens set to be released, according to Token Unlocks data.
Token unlocks involve gradual releases of coins that were initially held to discourage early investors or team members from quickly selling off their large-volume holdings. This process has historically had a significant impact on market conditions by increasing selling pressure on a digital asset.
Leading the upcoming May token unlock are two major players, Aevo and Pyth, each set to release over $1 billion worth of tokens.
Aevo is scheduled to release 827.6 million tokens valued at $1.257 billion, marking a substantial 758% increase in its current supply. This unlock is expected to occur on May 15. Additionally, the Layer-2 DEX roll-up will release 6.13 million AEVO tokens daily between May 16 and May 24, primarily going to the DAO treasury, early private sale investors, and the project team.
Meanwhile, Pyth Network, a decentralized oracle service provider built on Solana, plans to more than double its circulating token supply by unlocking 2.13 billion tokens worth around $1.25 billion on March 20. This token unlock will be Pyth’s first release since its launch last November and aims to incentivize ecosystem participants, protocol developers, and early supporters.
Aside from these significant unlocks, other projects are also gearing up for token releases in May.
Avalanche, a Layer 1 blockchain, will launch 9.54 million AVAX tokens worth $332 million on May 22, marking the second major token release for the network this year. DeFi protocol dYdX will unlock 33.33 million tokens, equivalent to 10% of its circulating supply valued at $71 million. Similarly, USDe issuer Ethena will release approximately 53.6 million ENA tokens, representing around 4% of its circulating supply on the same day.
Additionally, Memecoin is preparing to release 5.31 billion MEME tokens, worth $141 million and representing almost 32% of the token’s circulating supply. Other projects with scheduled unlocks for this month include several Ethereum layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Starknet.
