3 Crypto Dark Horses Primed for a Breakout: Immutable (IMX), Ethena (ENA), IOTA (MIOTA)
While Wall Street snoozes over another 0.25% rate cut debate, crypto’s next-gen projects are quietly building. These three tokens—each solving a critical bottleneck—could defy the sideways market.
Immutable (IMX): Gaming’s On-Chain Future or Just Hype? The Ethereum scaling play just inked a partnership with a major game studio—but can it deliver real player adoption beyond speculative NFT flips?
Ethena (ENA): The ’Stablecoin Killer’ That Actually Works. Its synthetic dollar protocol just hit $1B TVL, proving DeFi might finally have a USD alternative that doesn’t collapse every 18 months.
IOTA (MIOTA): The IoT Bet Big Tech Ignored. With new EU regulatory sandbox access, this DAG-based project could become the backbone for machine-to-machine payments—if it escapes crypto’s ‘always tomorrow’ development cycle.
Bottom line: In a market obsessed with Bitcoin ETFs and memecoins, these under-the-radar plays offer actual utility. Whether that matters in 2025’s casino economy? That’s the real gamble.
Immutable X token unlock
Immutable X, a top layer-2 network focused on gaming and non-fungible tokens, will be one of the top cryptocurrencies to watch this week.
The main catalyst will be a large token unlock scheduled for Tuesday. According to DeFi Llama, the network will unlock tokens worth $10.4 million, representing 1% of the float. Immutable has already unlocked 89% of its tokens, with the final one scheduled for November this year.
The daily chart shows that the IMX token price bottomed at $0.34 in April and then ROSE to $0.60. It remains 85% below the highest level in November last year. The token has formed a small inverse head and shoulders pattern, pointing to more gains later this week.
Ethena token unlock ahead
The other top token to watch will be Ethena. The creator of USDe, the fourth-biggest stablecoin, will be in focus as it unlocks tokens worth $23 million on Monday, May 5. This unlock is part of its monthly schedule, in which it releases 171.88 million ENA tokens. Its unlocks will end in 2028.
Ethena price has come under pressure ahead of the token unlock. It has moved below the 50-day moving average and the upper side of the descending channel. Therefore, the token may keep falling as sellers target the key point at $0.2520, followed by the psychological point at $0.20.
IOTA Rebased upgrade
IOTA, a top player in the crypto industry, will be in focus this week as it launches its Rebased upgrade. Rebased will be the biggest upgrade in its history.
Rebased will lead to full decentralization, powered by over 150 validators. This decentralization will enable holders to generate a monthly return as with other networks.
It will also introduce move-based smart contracts, allowing developers to build decentralized applications. This will make it a more direct competitor to other chains like Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA).
