Decoding why APT price holds firm despite $50M Aptos unlock

APT defies gravity as $50 million floodgates open—market barely flinches.

Supply Shock? What Supply Shock?

The Aptos network just unleashed $50 million worth of tokens into circulation. Conventional wisdom says that kind of dilution should tank prices. Instead, APT's chart looks like it didn't get the memo—holding steady while skeptics scratch their heads.

Institutional demand soaks up the sell pressure like a sponge. Venture capital firms and crypto funds positioned themselves for this exact moment, snapping up unlocked tokens before retail even noticed the calendar date.

Traders who bet against the unlock are now nursing losses—another reminder that crypto markets laugh at textbook economics. The token's resilience signals deeper strength: real usage, not just speculative hype.

Of course, Wall Street analysts would call this 'irrational'—but since when did traditional finance understand crypto dynamics? They're still trying to figure out Bitcoin ETFs while we're building the next financial system.

APT's stability amid massive unlocks proves one thing: when fundamentals are strong, even $50 million in new supply becomes just another buying opportunity.

Key Takeaways

APT price shunned the past two token unlocks. However, market sentiment and speculative interest were too low to trigger a strong recovery at press time. 

Aptos[APT] saw a $50 million token unlock (11.31 million APT) on the 11th of September, 10:00 AM UTC, but the price charts were not impacted. 

The unlock was part of the network’s monthly emissions to support its ecosystem and early investors. A spot check at prior unlocks showed no correlation pattern with price. 

Source: Token Unlocks

In fact, during the last month unlock, APT bounced 6%. However, the rally after the emission on the 11th September, led to a negligible spike of 0.94%. 

According to some of the Aptos community members, the growing staking demand would quickly absorb the unlock. 

Even so, speculative interest and overall market sentiment remained subdued. 

Futures market demand declines

Santiment data showed that APT’s weighted sentiment has been in the red since late August.

Although such weak sentiment didn’t derail price action in early July, the fact that speculative interest also waned, signaled weakness. 

Source: Santiment

Since late July, speculative (Open Interest, yellow) has retreated lower, underscoring a lack of demand from the Futures market or Leveraged players.

Given that crypto is largely a speculative asset class for most tokens, the weak demand didn’t sit well with near-term bulls. 

In contrast, the sharp spike in speculative interest in early July sent APT flying from $4.3 to over $5.5. Simply put, a strong rebound could be confirmed if the Futures market’s appetite for the altcoin improves. 

Source: Artemis

Another bearish data set was the Aptos chain’s DEX volumes. The chain’s ecosystem trading volumes dropped from over $255 million to below $150 million, illustrating a dip in network activity.

As a gas token, the shrinking activity also meant a decline in demand for APT. 

Unless these data sets flip positive, APT’s price could remain range-bound below $4.8. However, clearing the overhead resistance trendline could boost APT bulls’ chance of an extended recovery. 

Source: APT/USDT, TradingView