An Ethereum (ETH)-based gaming altcoin surged this weekend ahead of a large token unlocking event, defying conventional trading wisdom.
Axie Infinity (AXS) rallied from trading around $9.20 on Saturday to a high of $13.84 on Sunday, a more than 50% increase.
AXS, the 41st-ranked crypto asset by market cap, has since partially retraced and is trading at $12.18 at time of writing.
The price jump happened in advance of a roughly 4.8 million AXS token unlocking event that happened on Monday, according to the tokenomics data website TokenUnlocks. The unlocking event represented 1.812% of the asset’s total supply and was worth more than $60 million at current prices.
The recent price action of AXS flies in the face of conventional wisdom about token unlocks, which give investors opportunities to sell digital assets after vesting periods expire. Traditionally, token unlocks are viewed as bearish catalysts.
Axie Infinity’s next token-unlocking event will occur on April 17th. The unlock will represent 1.45% of the asset’s total supply (worth nearly $50 million at time of writing), according to TokenUnlocks.
AXS is up more than 100% since the start of 2023 when it was trading around $6.00. Despite its price surge this month, the token still remains over 92% down from its all-time high of $164.90, which it hit in November 2021.
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