Prices for the Aptos token (APT) have taken a hit today following a scheduled token unlock by the team.
The native token for the much-hyped Aptos network has taken a hit during the Monday morning Asian trading session. The decline is larger than that for the overall market, suggesting that a token unlock was the cause.
On Feb. 12, Aptos unlocked 4.5 million APT tokens, equivalent to around 0.45% of its total supply. Furthermore, the unlock was worth around $62.5 million at APT prices at the time.
The next scheduled unlock for Aptos is on March 12, when another 4.5 million tokens will be released on the market.
Before the unlock, Aptos holders were confident of a pump similar to the last time tokens were released. However, the opposite has happened today.
Majority of Aptos Supply Still Locked
According to Token Unlocks, 85% of the APT token supply is still locked up. They are scheduled for release every month over the next ten years.
There is currently just 14.8% of the supply unlocked, giving it a market cap of around $1.95 billion with 167.7 million tokens circulating.
Projects often perform these token unlocks to release locked shares into the crypto market over a set period of time. This process aims to align incentives for all stakeholders. However, it can cause short-term volatility and price dumps at the time.
Aptos has been criticized by the crypto community for its tokenomics, which are heavily venture capital dominated. The Ethereum rivaling blockchain has been developed by former Facebook employees working on the defunct Diem project.
Its token price has surged this year, gaining a whopping 278% since the beginning of January. However, the momentum appears to be waning as APT has declined since its all-time high on Jan. 26.
There are more token unlocks scheduled this week for The Sandbox (SAND), dYdX (DYDX), Euler (EUL), ApeCoin (APE), and 1inch (1INCH), and prices could react similarly.
Price Tanks
Today, APT has lost around 8% in a fall from an intraday high of just over $14 to just below $13 a couple of hours ago. At the time of writing, APT was changing hands for $13.08.
Furthermore, APT has lost around 30% over the past fortnight as it retreats from peak prices in late January.
APT hit $19.92 last month but has lost 34% since then, and the token unlocks have accelerated those losses.
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