Crypto Market Braces for Major Unlocked Coin Surge This Week

A tidal wave of previously locked tokens is about to hit the market. Brace for impact.

The Unlock Floodgates Open

It's the moment every holder watches and every trader calculates: the scheduled release of millions—sometimes billions—of dollars worth of tokens from their vesting cliffs. This isn't a leak; it's a planned deluge written into smart contracts from day one. Projects unlock tokens to reward early backers, teams, and foundations. The market now faces the reality of that promise.

Supply, Demand, and Downward Pressure

Basic economics doesn't disappear in a bull market. A sudden, predictable increase in sellable supply often meets stagnant or insufficient buy-side demand. The result? Price discovery gets messy. While long-term believers might hold through the volatility, short-term traders see a red flag—a guaranteed overhang that can cap rallies or trigger corrections. It's the crypto equivalent of a scheduled earnings report, but for tokenomics instead of profits.

Navigating the Unlock Wave

Smart money doesn't just panic. It plans. Tracking unlock schedules is now a core part of the crypto analyst's toolkit, as fundamental as any roadmap update. The key question isn't just *how much* is unlocking, but *who* gets the keys. Are tokens flowing to disciplined venture funds or restless retail investors on a cliff's edge? The destination dictates the sell pressure. Some projects even engineer buybacks or staking incentives to soften the landing—a welcome sign of mature treasury management in a space that sometimes treats token unlocks like a corporate stock dump. After all, what's the difference between a founder cashing out and a CEO exercising options? About six months and a lot less regulatory scrutiny.

So keep one eye on the charts and the other on the calendar. This week's unlocks aren't a market failure; they're a feature of the system. How the market digests them will separate the robust projects from the paper hands.

One-Time High-Volume Unlocks in the Upcoming Week

According to Tokenomist data, the period from December 29 to January 5 will witness major one-time coin unlocks, referred to as “cliff unlocks.” These events involve the release of more than $5 million worth of coins in a single transaction. Projects like HYPE, SUI, EIGEN, KMNO, OP, ENA, ZORA, and SVL are on the schedule. For instance, approximately 9.92 million HYPE coins, valued at over $251 million, are set for circulation, corresponding to about 2.59% of the adjusted supply.

Similarly, other altcoin projects will experience comparable supply increases. For SUI, the release of 46.41 million coins is anticipated, with EIGEN’s release accounting for 9.74% of the adjusted supply. Projects like KMNO, ZORA, and SVL are expected to see supply increase between 3% and 5%. Although OP and ENA have relatively limited releases, the value of the new coins entering the market surpasses millions of dollars.

Investors closely watch such one-time unlocks as the rapid increase in circulating supply can influence pricing behaviors. Project teams, early investors, and ecosystem stakeholders play a decisive role during the release of these unlocked coins.

Linear Unlocks Spotlighting Key Altcoin Projects

During the same period, linear coin unlocks, expected to exceed $1 million daily, are also crucial. According to Tokenomist’s classification, projects such as RAIN, SOL, TRUMP, WLD, DOGE, AVAX, and ASTER fall into this category. RAIN plans to gradually release a total of 9.43 billion coins, equating to over $76 million over seven days.

For SOL, a linear unlock of approximately 484,000 coins is anticipated, valuing at over $61 million. Projects like TRUMP, WLD, and Doge see meaningful daily supply increases given their market volume. Even though AVAX and ASTER comprise smaller amounts, these unlocks also exceed the $1 million mark.

Linear unlocks, stretched over time compared to single transactions, have a more gradual market impact. Yet, the substantial total amount makes investors keenly assess liquidity flows and the supply-demand balance.