LayerZero leads cliff unlocks as market preps to absorb $1B in new tokens this week

The crypto market will have to absorb another series of unlocks valued at over $1B. LayerZero will lead the cliff unlocks in the week of October 20 to October 26. 

The crypto market will have to face $1.01B in weekly unlocks, following the previous week’s inflows of $1.02B in newly released tokens. 

Cliff unlocks are also significant, reaching $188.74M in addition to the more predictable linear unlocks. The bulk of unlocks come from regular token production, as well as tokens with predictable vesting schedules.

LayerZero leads cliff unlocks

LayerZero (ZRO) expects an unlock of $44.73M in new tokens, representing 23.2% of the supply. Ahead of the unlock, ZRO traded near a three-month low at $1.77. 

ZRO entered a period of more active unlocks for strategic partners and core contributors, with more community unlocks starting in November. Core contributors will receive 10.63M tokens, while strategic partners will get 13.42M tokens. 

The project has also repurchased 1.67M tokens, valued at $2.9M. ZRO is only 33% unlocked, expecting regular token inflows until 2027.

Plasma’s XPL expects another cliff unlock

Plasma is the other notable project to unlock $36.88M tokens or 4.6% of its supply. Ahead of the unlock, XPL traded at $0.41, down from its recent local highs of $1.63 at the end of September. 

The XPL unlock is expected on October 25, as the project has so far only unlocked 18% of its supply. 

Plasma is still distributing its investors’ and public sale tokens. The unlocks for investors and team members will not start until September 2026. 

Two more cliff unlocks are expected in the coming week – Multibank Group (MBG), adding 19.1% to its supply. The unlock on October 22 will add 15.48M tokens, valued at around $17.33M, in mixed unlocks for ecosystem growth and marketing. 

SOON will unlock another 5.7% of its supply, valued at $14.43M. The token is 34% unlocked and now enters the steepest phase of inflows to the market. SOON will have the most diverse unlock, with airdrops for NFT holders, liquidity, incentives, and general ecosystem growth unlocks.

WLD, TRUMP among highest linear unlocks

Based on value, BTC, SOL and ETH production put the biggest pressure on the market. However, Worldcoin (WLD) and Official Trump (TRUMP) will be the notable linear unlocks for the coming week. 

WLD will add $4.94M worth of tokens, while TRUMP will add $4.18M. Linear unlocks typically do not cause market panic, but they steadily add to a token’s inflation. 

Additionally, AVAX will release $2M worth of tokens. IP will have $1.92M unlock for the coming week, and ASTER will add $1.75M worth of tokens to the market. 

Other recurring unlocks include EthFi ($1.34M), TIA ($1.21M), DOT ($1.01M). 

Meteora leads new project token unlocks

Meteora is an outlier in the coming week, based on additional data from Cryptorank. Meteora’s newly released MET token expects its large-scale TGE unlock, which will release 43% of the total supply on the open market. 

The unlock will be valued at $454.84M, making up over 86% of the MET market cap. MET is still in price discovery mode, and the TGE unlock may dramatically shift its valuation. MET still has no price discovery mechanism, and the unlock will coincide with the start of trading.

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