June’s Crypto Tsunami: Brace for Impact as Billions in Tokens Hit the Market

Locked-up tokens don’t stay quiet forever—June’s unlocking event could send shockwaves through already volatile markets. Here’s why traders are sweating.

Supply shock incoming: Projects releasing vested tokens en masse rarely escape price pressure. History shows unlocks often precede double-digit dips—even for blue-chips.

Veterans are hedging: OTC desks report surging demand for put options as smart money prepares for turbulence. Retail? They’ll probably FOMO in at the top as usual.

Silver lining alert: Not all unlocks spell disaster. Protocols with real utility and burning mechanisms might just eat the extra supply and keep climbing. Emphasis on ’might.’

Final thought: If your portfolio survives June unscathed, celebrate by shorting some ’Web3 gaming’ tokens—those unlocks will make this look like a picnic.

In Brief

• June 2025 will see $3.3 billion in crypto unlocks, 32% less than May.
• Metars Genesis ($193M) and Sui ($160M) are the largest volumes of the month.
• “Cliff” unlocks total $1.4 billion compared to $1.9 billion in gradual releases.

3.3 billion dollars in crypto will flood the markets in June

Crypto projects often lock their tokens for months or years. This practice, called “vesting,” prevents early investors and teams from selling everything at once. The goal? To avoid sharp price drops before the project matures.

June will see the maturity of several of these lock-up periods. The breakdown reveals a balanced strategy:

• 1.4 billion dollars via “cliff unlocks” (massive immediate release)
• 1.9 billion dollars on a progressive, staggered schedule over time

This approach limits liquidity shocks while giving projects the funds they need for development.

Metars Genesis and Sui in the spotlight

Sui Network kicks off on June 1 with 44 million tokens released, around 160 million dollars.

This LAYER 1 blockchain already shows an impressive record: 3.3 billion tokens unlocked out of a total 12 billion, representing 33% of its total supply. However, 5.22 billion tokens remain pending without a precise schedule.

The distribution of sui funds revolves around several strategic goals:

• 70 million dollars for Series B investors
• Rewards for development teams
• Funding of Mysten Labs’ treasury
• Top-up of the community reserve

Metars Genesis hits hard on June 21 with 193 million dollars. This NFT project will finance an artificial intelligence partnership. Since March, it has regularly released 10 million per month, totaling nearly one billion to date.

Other players complete the picture:

• Fasttoken: 20 million tokens (88 million dollars) for founders
• LayerZero: 25 million tokens (71 million dollars) for contributors
• Aptos: 11.31 million tokens (61 million dollars) distributed among teams, foundation, and investors
• ZKsync: over 760 million tokens (49 million dollars) for teams

These June 2025 unlocks come in a particular context. The FTX case, with its planned 5 billion reimbursements by the end of May, could energize the ecosystem. Former platform clients, who are recovering 61% of their funds blocked since November 2022, now have fresh liquidity to reinvest.

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