Whales holding Arbitrum (ARB) started to move their digital assets into crypto exchanges after the unlocking of a huge amount of vested tokens on March 16.
On March 18, blockchain analysis firm Lookonchain flagged that at least 11 whales deposited their tokens into exchanges after the unlock. Collectively, the whales deposited 34 million tokens worth almost $58 million at the time of writing.
The event follows a massive token unlock conducted by the layer-2 blockchain project. On March 16, Arbitrum unlocked 1.1 billion ARB tokens (worth $2.32 billion). Data from crypto vesting tracker Token Unlocks showed that Arbitrum unlocked 673.5 million tokens for its advisers and its team members. It also released 438.25 million for investors.
The project conducted a “Cliff Unlock,” which means that the tokens were released all at once. This sparked predictions that many holders would take short positions against the token. Some community members even posted on social media that they sold their ARB.
Some held hopes that the token would not dump. A community member hoped that it would instead follow a similar pattern to other vesting unlock periods when token prices went up instead of down. However, this wasn’t the case for ARB.
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In the week leading to the token unlock, ARB token prices dropped consistently. The token recorded a high of $2.22 on March 13 and dropped to $1.84 on March 16, the day of the unlock.
On March 17, the token dropped even further to $1.64, recording a seven-day low. Currently, the token is hovering around the $1.70 price point, almost 29% below its all-time high of $2.39, which it breached on Jan. 12.
While the unlocked tokens have already driven the price down by 23.42%, holders may not yet be getting relief anytime soon. According to Token Unlocks, Arbitrum is scheduled to release another 92.65 million tokens on April 16.
These tokens are worth around $157 million at current market prices and will be released all at once to the Arbitrum team, its advisers and investors.
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