$600M XRP token release to bring August crypto unlocks to $1.5B

August is shaping up to be a big month for token unlocks, with just shy of $1.5 billion in tokens being released to the market.

Update (July 29, 6:00 am UTC): This article has been updated to include information concerning the XRP re-locking process. 

Nearly $1.5 billion in tokens from major crypto projects are set to be unlocked in August, with 1 billion XRP tokens — worth $609 million at current prices — making up a massive part of the month’s total on Aug. 1.

Ripple, the firm behind the XRP Ledger blockchain and its native XRP (XRP) token, has unlocked up to 1 billion tokens on the first day of every month since 2017. It uses several main escrow wallets, including Ripple (24) and Ripple (25), to evenly split the unlocks each month.

However, Ripple may look to re-lock much of the newly released XRP. Ripple relocked 800 million XRP from its June 1 unlock; however, it still made moves to sell around 300 million XRP — worth $182 million at the time — according to data from TradingView. 

While up to 1 billion XRP tokens are unlocked at the start of each month, the actual amount of XRP that would be released into circulation is “likely much less than this” due to a re-escrow process, wrote XRP Ledger in a 2017 blog post. 

Other major unlocks in August include those from layer-1 network Avalanche and cross-chain bridging platform Wormhole, releasing a combined $449 million worth of tokens, per Token Unlocks data.

On Aug. 3, Wormhole will unlock 33.3% of its circulating supply, amounting to 600 million Wormhole (W) tokens with a current market value of $180.5 million. It comes after conducting its long-awaited airdrop launch on April 4.

On Aug. 20, Avalanche will unlock 2.4% of the circulating supply of its Avalanche (AVAX) tokens, amounting to 9.4 million AVAX with a current market value of $268 million.

Tokens unlocking on the first day of August

Other than XRP, another three projects, including layer-1 network Sui, decentralized exchange dYdX, and “universal” blockchain ZetaChain will also unlock significant portions of their supply on the first day of August.

Sui will unlock 2.56% of its circulating supply, releasing 64 million tokens with a current value of $50 million on Aug. 1.

DYdX will unlock 8.33 million tokens worth nearly $11 million on the same day — amounting to 3.65% of its circulating supply. Notably, the tokens will unlock for three groups: investors, founders and staff and future employees.

Related: Worldcoin faces ‘scam’ allegations after extending token lockup by 2 years

Meanwhile, the new layer-1 network ZetaChain will unlock nearly 18.9% of its circulating supply of ZetaChain (ZETA) tokens on Aug. 1. At current prices, 53.9 million tokens have a market value of around $34.5 million. It follows its launch in February.

Other August unlocks

Crypto gaming network ImmutableX will unlock 2.11% of the circulating supply of Immutable (IMX) tokens on Aug. 9, amounting to 32.5 million tokens, which command a current market value of $49 million.

Aptos, Sui’s rival layer-1 network, will unlock $80 million worth of its native Aptos (APT) token on Aug. 12, while Web3 gaming platform The Sandbox will unlock $69 million worth of its native The Sandbox (SAND) tokens on Aug. 14.

Two Ethereum layer-2 networks, Starknet and Arbitrum, are also set to release tokens.

On Aug. 15, Starknet will unlock 64 million Starknet (STRK) tokens, amounting to 4.4% of the token’s circulating supply. The tokens have a current market value of $35 million.

On Aug. 16, Arbitrum will unlock 92.6 million Arbitrum (ARB) tokens, amounting to 2.8% of its circulating supply. The market value of the yet-to-be-unlocked tokens stands at $67 million.