Before the rate cuts, the number of blue-chip altcoin unlocks was quite large, but this time might really be different. Let’s first talk about which tokens to keep an eye on: August 28 — JUP: ≈53.47M August 31 — MANTA: Amount undisclosed September 1 — OP: ~42.9M September 1→3 — SUI: ~49.5M September 1 — TIA: ~33.8M September 4 — IMX: ~24.52M September 4 — DYDX: ~1.55M September 11 — APT: ~11.31M September 15 — STRK: ~127M September 15 — SEI: Exact amount depends on allocation table September 16 — ARB: ~92.65M September 17 — APE: ~15.6M September 20 — PYTH: ~236M Why is this time different? In my opinion, this is actually a bullish unlock, especially at this point in time with rate cuts. The reasoning is simple: Teams/funds can’t arbitrarily change the schedule, but they can choose to actively push up and sell unlocked tokens during a more favorable macroeconomic window (market-making, incentives, OTC). Right now, the market is broadly betting on the Fed entering a rate-cut cycle starting in September, with probabilities rising. This means there’s relatively more liquidity and market-making budget for risk assets, which benefits project teams or VCs in selling new supply into a strong market trend.