The altcoin market may face a temporary slowdown as several projects are set to unlock $650 million worth of tokens

The altcoin market has been enjoying a strong rally in the past few weeks, with many cryptocurrencies reaching new highs and outperforming Bitcoin. However, the momentum may soon slow down as several projects are scheduled to unlock a large amount of tokens in the coming days, increasing the supply and potentially putting downward pressure on the prices.

According to Unlocks Calendar, a website that tracks upcoming token unlocks, 18 projects have planned to release $650 million worth of tokens in November 2023. The largest unlock will come from Optimism (OP), a layer 2 network built on Ethereum, which will release 100 million OP tokens worth $500 million on Nov. 30. This represents 10% of the total OP supply and will increase the circulating supply by 25%.

Also, the Filecoin (FIL) network has announced that over $200 million worth of tokens are scheduled to be released. This is followed by the NEAR Protocol (NEAR) with $150 million and the Lido Finance (LDO) with $100 million.

The unlocking of these tokens could put downward pressure on altcoin prices as a large amount of supply hits the market. This could be especially true for Ethereum, Filecoin, NEAR, and Lido Finance, as these tokens are set to unlock a significant portion of their total circulating supply.

Despite the unlocking schedule, market sentiment remains relatively bullish for altcoins. Many analysts believe that the altcoin rally has further to run, as there is still a lot of pent-up demand from investors.

Despite the risks, the overall outlook for altcoins remains positive. Many investors believe that altcoins are still undervalued relative to BTC, and that they have the potential to outperform BTC in the long run.

Updates as of Nov 29th, 2023

• The price of FIL has fallen by over 10% in the past week, as investors anticipate the upcoming token unlock.
• NEAR has held up better than FIL, with a price decline of just 2% in the past week.
• LDO has also performed relatively well, with a price decline of just 3% in the past week.