What Token Unlocks Are Coming This Week? The DN Dump Pressure Index for 2026
A forward calendar of vesting unlocks, each scored for the supply shock it could deliver — so you see the dump before it hits price.
A token unlock is the scheduled release of previously locked tokens — to investors, team or community — that increases circulating supply and can trigger selling. The danger of an unlock is not its size alone but its size relative to the token's daily trading volume and circulating float, plus who receives it and whether it lands all at once. The DN Dump Pressure Index scores each unlock 0–100 on those factors: above 75 is a severe supply shock, below 25 the market absorbs easily. Use the calendar and calculator below to find this week's high-pressure unlocks and position ahead of them.
Most traders learn about a token unlock the way they learn about a pothole — by hitting it. The chart drops eight percent on a quiet day, they go looking for news, and they discover that a tranche of investor tokens unlocked that morning and got sold straight into the market. The information was public for months. It was sitting in the vesting schedule the whole time. They simply were not looking, because the data is scattered and nobody had scored which unlocks actually matter.
That is the entire purpose of this tool. Unlocks are one of the few genuinely predictable events in crypto — the dates are set in the smart contract, often years in advance. The DN Dump Pressure Index turns that predictability into an edge by answering the only question that matters: of all the unlocks coming, which ones are big enough, concentrated enough, and aimed at sellers enough to actually move the price?
Why unlocks move markets
Most crypto tokens do not launch with their full supply in circulation. To align incentives and prevent insiders dumping on day one, large portions are locked and released gradually over months or years through a vesting schedule. Each release — an unlock — pushes new supply into the market. Basic economics does the rest: if demand stays flat while supply jumps, price falls. An unlock is a scheduled, telegraphed increase in sell-side supply, and the market does not always have the buyers to absorb it.
The era of low-float, high-fully-diluted-valuation tokens has made this more dangerous than ever. Many tokens launch with only a small slice of supply liquid, supporting an inflated price, while enormous tranches wait in the vesting contract. When those tranches unlock — especially to early investors sitting on enormous paper gains from a tiny entry price — the incentive to sell is overwhelming. Understanding who is unlocking and how motivated they are to sell is half the analysis.
The Dump Pressure Index methodology
An unlock's headline dollar figure is almost meaningless on its own. A hundred-million-dollar unlock is trivial for a deeply liquid major and catastrophic for a thin micro-cap. The Dump Pressure Index exists because the danger is always relative, and it weights four factors that together determine whether an unlock is a non-event or a cliff:
The single most important factor. An unlock worth several days of the token's entire trading volume cannot be absorbed without moving price. We measure the unlock's dollar value against average daily volume — a ratio above roughly five days of volume is severe, regardless of headline size.
How much the unlock expands the circulating supply. A release equal to fifteen or twenty percent of the float is a major dilution event that reprices the token even before any selling, because the supply-demand balance has structurally shifted.
Who gets the tokens decides how likely they are to be sold. Early investors and team members sitting on large unrealised gains have the highest propensity to take profit; ecosystem and community allocations are often deployed as incentives rather than dumped, so they carry less pressure.
A cliff unlock dumps a whole tranche at once — a concentrated shock. A linear unlock drips the same supply out continuously, letting the market absorb it gradually and sharply reducing the pressure of any single date.
The two quantitative factors set the base score; the recipient and structure act as multipliers that can heavily discount it. This is why a large linear community unlock can score as negligible while a smaller cliff unlock to early investors scores as severe — the index captures the intent and concentration, not just the number.
Small relative to volume and float, or dripped out linearly. The market shrugs it off — a non-event.
Worth watching. Expect some volatility around the date but rarely a structural break.
A meaningful supply shock. Pre-unlock weakness is likely; the token often underperforms into the date.
A major dump risk — large, concentrated, and aimed at motivated sellers. Treat long exposure with real caution.
This week's high-pressure events
The calendar at the top of the tool lists the unlocks on the immediate horizon, each scored by the index and sorted by date, so you can see at a glance which ones deserve attention. Tap any entry to load its parameters into the calculator and see exactly what is driving its score — whether it is the sheer size relative to volume, the float dilution, or a cliff release to early investors. The entries are refreshed each week; the calculator scores any unlock you enter yourself, for tokens not on the board.
The pattern worth internalising is that the dangerous unlocks are rarely the largest by headline value. They are the ones where a thinly traded token faces a tranche worth many days of its volume, released as a cliff to investors who entered at a fraction of the current price. Those are the setups where the index climbs into the red, and those are the dates to mark.
Positioning into an unlock
The crucial nuance is that markets are forward-looking, so a well-known unlock is rarely a surprise on the day. The selling pressure often expresses itself as weakness in the days and weeks before the unlock, as informed traders position ahead of it. By the time the unlock actually happens, the move is frequently already done — which is why tokens sometimes stage a relief rally on the unlock date itself, as the anticipated event passes and shorts cover. The old adage applies: sell the rumour, buy the news.
This shapes how professionals trade it. For a high or severe reading, the edge is usually in anticipating the pre-unlock weakness rather than reacting on the day — hedging a holding or taking a short into the date, then covering as the event passes. The index tells you which unlocks are worth positioning around; it does not tell you the exact timing, which still demands your own read of price and how much of the unlock the market has already digested. Treat a severe score as a reason to reduce long exposure or hedge, not as a guaranteed short.
Where to hedge or short the unlock
Trading an unlock — whether hedging a position you hold or taking a directional short into the supply shock — means using perpetual futures, which requires a venue with liquidity in the token and reliable execution:
Frequently asked questions
What token unlocks are coming this week?
The calendar in the tool above lists the upcoming unlocks on the near horizon, each scored by the DN Dump Pressure Index and sorted by date, and is refreshed weekly. Tap any entry to see what is driving its score. For tokens not listed, the built-in calculator scores any unlock from its size, volume, float and recipient.
What is a token unlock?
A token unlock is the scheduled release of previously locked tokens into circulation, following a vesting schedule set at launch. Allocations to investors, team and community are typically locked for months or years and released in tranches, increasing circulating supply each time.
Do token unlocks always cause the price to drop?
No. The impact depends on the unlock's size relative to daily volume and float, who receives it, and whether it is a cliff or linear release. Small or linear unlocks are often absorbed with little effect, while large cliff unlocks to early investors can cause significant selling. Much of the impact is also frequently priced in beforehand.
What is the DN Dump Pressure Index?
It is a 0–100 score from Decentralised News measuring how much selling pressure a token unlock is likely to create. It weights the unlock's value versus daily volume (62%) and its float inflation (38%), then applies modifiers for recipient sell-propensity and unlock structure. Above 75 signals a severe supply shock.
How do you trade a token unlock?
Because unlocks are often priced in ahead of time, the common approach is to anticipate pre-unlock weakness — hedging a holding or shorting into the date via perpetual futures — then covering as the event passes, since tokens can rally once the anticipated supply hits. The index identifies which unlocks are worth positioning around; timing still requires reading price action.
Why do unlocks to investors matter more than to community?
Early investors often bought at a tiny fraction of the current price and have strong incentive to take profit when their tokens unlock, so their sell-propensity is high. Community and ecosystem allocations are frequently deployed as incentives or rewards rather than sold immediately, creating less immediate pressure.
This tool and article are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment or trading advice. The Dump Pressure Index is a model based on user-entered or editorially-maintained inputs and is not a prediction; unlock impact varies and is often partly priced in. Calendar entries are illustrative examples to be updated with current data. Cryptocurrency and derivatives trading is high risk and can result in total loss of capital. Always verify unlock schedules independently and consider consulting a licensed financial professional. Decentralised News may earn a commission from exchanges linked in this article at no additional cost to you.
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