Every month, regardless of market conditions, the same pattern repeats itself. Millions of new tokens are released onto the market, potentially putting selling pressure on the price of the relevant cryptocurrency. Find out which token unlocks to watch in December to stay one step ahead.
The 5 crypto token unlocks to watch in December
While most altcoins have underperformed over the past 30 days, a well-oiled mechanism could exacerbate this trend: the infamous token unlocks.
Indeed, as usual, millions of tokens will be released in December.
Although a token unlock does not necessarily mean a drop in the price of the asset in question, this event contributes, at the very least, to increasing supply relative to demand, which can result in selling pressure.
This month, there are significant token unlocks to be aware of and monitor, particularly for the ENA, APT, PUMP, STRK, and ASTER tokens:
Token unlocks to watch in December
Ethena (ENA)
- Quantity: 94.19 million ENA tokens;
- Value: $23.37 million;
- Unlock date: December 2;
- Unlocked amount relative to circulating supply: 1.27%.
Ethena is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that offers an alternative to traditional stablecoins via a product called USDe, a “synthetic” stablecoin pegged to the dollar.
Unlike reserve-backed stablecoins (such as USDT or USDC), USDe is kept stable through a hedging strategy based on crypto derivatives.
The ENA token is the governance token of the Ethena protocol. It allows holders to participate in decisions regarding the protocol’s development and to earn staking rewards.
Over the past 30 days, the price of the ENA token has fallen by approximately 30%. Indeed, the project is struggling to recover from the liquidation event that occurred on October 10. Since that event (indicated by the white arrow on the chart), Ethena’s flagship product, USDe, has fallen by more than 50% in terms of market capitalization:
Chart showing the market capitalization of USDe (in purple), DAI (in yellow), and USDS (in blue)
On December 2, Ethena will release $94.19 million worth of ENA tokens, representing approximately $23.4 million, or 1.27% of its total market capitalization.
Aptos (APT)
- Quantity: 11.31 million APT tokens;
- Value: $22.02 million;
- Unlock date: December 12;
- Amount unlocked relative to circulating supply: 1.54%.
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain born from the ashes of Diem, a crypto project abandoned by Facebook (Meta) under regulatory pressure. Based on the Move language, Aptos is an ultra-fast blockchain. It offers significantly lower transaction fees than the Ethereum blockchain, making it relevant in the high-frequency trading sector.
Over the past 30 days, the price of the APT cryptocurrency has fallen by more than 39%. Although some on-chain metrics for the Aptos blockchain are relatively encouraging, selling pressure remains higher than demand, which automatically drives the price down.
Chart showing APT token unlocks
As we can see in the chart above, new APT tokens are entering the market every month, contributing to this imbalance between supply and demand. On December 12, 11.31 million APT tokens will be released, representing over $22 million and 1.54% of its market capitalization.
Pump.fun (PUMP)
- Quantity: 10 billion PUMP tokens;
- Value: $30.08 million;
- Unlock date: December 14;
- Amount unlocked relative to circulating supply: 1.7%.
Pump.fun is a popular token launchpad platform, typically for memecoins, on the Solana blockchain.
With the crypto market currently performing poorly, speculation—particularly on protocols like Pump.fun—is being impacted. However, the project remains one of the most undervalued to date, with a Market Cap/Revenue (MC/R) ratio of 4.4.
In other words, the Pump.fun project injects approximately a quarter of its market capitalization into the token each year via a buyback mechanism (purchasing tokens on the market). This mechanism, highly valued by investors, has the benefit of reducing supply, which can lead to price appreciation or, at the very least, mitigate the impact of token unlocks.
Chart showing the MC/R ratio of the PUMP token
On December 14, 10 billion PUMP tokens will be unlocked, representing over $30 million, or 1.7% of its market cap. Over the past 30 days, the price of the PUMP cryptocurrency has fallen by nearly 30%.
StarkNet (STARK)
- Quantity: 127.6 million STRK tokens;
- Value: $16.02 million;
- Unlock date: December 15;
- Unlocked amount relative to circulating supply: 2.66%.
StarkNet is a scalability solution for the Ethereum blockchain, based on the Cairo language. The project also aims to expand into the Bitcoin ecosystem, particularly to develop Bitcoin finance (BTCFi).
StarkNet is one of those projects heavily overfunded by venture capital (VC) funds. During the project’s various fundraising rounds, over $282.5 million was raised. A hefty sum, which comes with its own set of trade-offs.
Indeed, the STRK token is subject to high inflation due to the project’s monthly token unlocks, which creates a gap between the crypto’s market capitalization and its price. While total market capitalization increases as unlocks occur, dilution automatically drives the price of the STRK token downward:
Chart showing STRK’s market cap (in blue) and its price (in green)
On December 15, 127.6 million STRK tokens will be released, representing over $16 million, or 2.66% of its market cap. Over the past 30 days, the price of STRK has risen by 18%.
Aster
- Quantity: 78.41 million ASTER tokens;
- Value: $79.43 million;
- Unlock date: December 17;
- Unlocked quantity relative to circulating supply: 3.89%.
Aster is a decentralized exchange (DEX) specializing in perpetual contract (perp) trading, but it also offers spot trading and tokenized stocks.
Publicly backed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Aster has quickly established itself as a credible alternative to industry leader Hyperliquid.
Chart showing weekly volumes recorded on various DEX perps, with Aster (in yellow), Hyperliquid (in cyan), and Lighter (in white)
Driven by a wave of speculation surrounding its airdrop, Aster quickly took significant market share from Hyperliquid. Since the hype has died down, Aster accounts for between 20% and 25% of total volume across all DEX perps.
By comparison, Hyperliquid now holds similar market shares.
On December 17, Aster will unlock 78.41 million tokens, representing $79.43 million and 3.89% of its market cap. Over the past 14 days, the price of ASTER has fallen by 20%.
Honorable Mentions
Other major token unlocks to watch in December include:
The Layer 1 blockchain Sei, which will release 95.15 million Sei tokens on December 15, representing nearly $13.3 million and 1.49% of its market cap.
The Layer 2 blockchain Arbitrum, which will release 92.63 million ARB tokens on December 16, representing nearly $20.2 million, or 1.65% of its valuation.
Merlin Chain, a Layer 2 blockchain for Bitcoin, will release 36.14 million MERL tokens on December 19, representing $12.16 million, or 3.32% of its market cap.
The LayerZero project will release 24.68 million ZRO tokens on December 20, representing $34.44 million, or 10.3% of its valuation.
The Humanity Protocol project will release 133.54 million H tokens on December 25, representing over $16.5 million, or 7.32% of its market cap.
The Layer 1 Plasma, which specializes in stablecoins, will release 88.88 million XPL tokens on the same day, representing nearly $16.5 million, or 4.94% of its valuation.
The Layer 2 protocol Optimism will release 32.21 million OP tokens on December 31, representing $10.38 million, or 1.7% of its market capitalization.
