Arbitrum and ApeCoin are set to take center stage this week as millions of tokens are unlocked on their respective networks.
ApeCoin (APE) has seen a significant price increase, trading at $0.756, up by 57% from its lowest point in August. On the other hand, Arbitrum (ARB) has remained stagnant at $0.5345 for the past few weeks.
Arbitrum is scheduled to unlock 93.2 million new tokens on Monday, Sep. 16, bringing the total number of coins in circulation to over 3.52 billion. With a total supply of 10 billion tokens, there are still more unlocks to come, with the final one expected in April 2027.
The unlock comes at a challenging time for Arbitrum, as data from Nansen shows a decline in the number of active addresses, daily deployments, and transaction count. The platform has also been surpassed by Base Blockchain in the decentralized exchange industry.
ApeCoin, created by Yuga Labs, will unlock 15.38 million tokens on Sep. 17, increasing the circulating supply to 620 million. With a maximum supply of 1 billion coins, monthly unlocks will continue until March 2026. Additionally, the upcoming launch of ApeChain, a layer-2 network for developing applications in various industries, is on the horizon.
Token unlocks are typically viewed as bearish events in the crypto industry, as they dilute existing holdings and reduce staking yields. Both ApeCoin and Arbitrum will also be influenced by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, with expectations of a rate cut given the current economic conditions.
In conclusion, the spotlight will be on Arbitrum and ApeCoin this week as their networks unlock millions of tokens, amidst challenging market conditions and upcoming events that could impact their performance.