After the unlocking of a significant number of vested tokens on March 16, whales holding Arbitrum (ARB) have begun transferring their digital assets to crypto exchanges. On March 18, Lookonchain, a blockchain analysis firm, identified that at least 11 whales had deposited their tokens into exchanges following the unlock. These whales collectively deposited 34 million tokens, valued at nearly $58 million at the time of writing.
This event occurred after a massive token unlock conducted by the layer-2 blockchain project. On March 16, Arbitrum unlocked 1.1 billion ARB tokens, equivalent to $2.32 billion. Data from Token Unlocks, a crypto vesting tracker, revealed that Arbitrum released 673.5 million tokens for its advisers and team members, and 438.25 million tokens for investors.
The project implemented a “Cliff Unlock” strategy, meaning that all the tokens were released at once. This led to predictions that many holders would take short positions against the token. Some members of the community even shared on social media that they had sold their ARB tokens.
Despite some hopeful expectations that the token would not experience a significant drop, the ARB token price consistently declined in the week leading up to the unlock. On March 13, the token reached a peak of $2.22, but by the day of the unlock, March 16, it had dropped to $1.84. On March 17, the token fell even further to $1.64, marking a seven-day low. Currently, the token is trading around the $1.70 price point, which is nearly 29% below its all-time high of $2.39 achieved on January 12.
The unlocking of these tokens has caused a 23.42% decline in price, and unfortunately, holders may not find relief in the near future. Token Unlocks indicates that Arbitrum is scheduled to release an additional 92.65 million tokens on April 16. These tokens are valued at approximately $157 million based on current market prices and will be released all at once to the Arbitrum team, advisers, and investors.