Aptos Jumps 8% Ahead of $50M Token Unlock

Millions of Aptos Labs' APT tokens will be unlocked on Wednesday in a planned move that’s set to increase the token's circulating supply by 0.5%, data shows. The unlock is expected to occur at 05:30 UTC.

APT rose nearly 8% in the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows, outperforming bitcoin (BTC) and the broader market. The Aptos network has a market cap of over $2.3 billion.

The APT unlock is valued at over $50 million based on current prices. Unlocks refer to the automatic release of new tokens belonging to any blockchain network into the open market. They are usually planned beforehand.

Some 84% of all APT tokens are still locked, meaning the token's price is likely to drop long term because most of the tokens wouldn't have hit the market.

Token unlocks have the power to sway investors and traders. The addition of tokens to the market allows early investors, developers or other holders to sell their assets while the price is still high – which contributes to the selling pressure.

Based on fundamental demand, however, newer investors or traders may increase their existing holdings of that token, leading to a price rise after the initial selling pressure wears off.

Aptos Labs, the parent company of the Aptos blockchain, raised over $350 million over multiple funding rounds last year, as CoinDesk previously reported. The firm was founded by former employers of Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms (META), after Facebook abandoned its own plans to create a blockchain-based payments network called Diem (formerly Libra).