Crypto token unlocks hit $1.11B as Hyperliquid frees $340M for one buyer

More than a billion dollars in freshly released tokens is about to hit the crypto market. Early October 2026 will see crypto token unlocks worth $1.11 billion across several major projects, with Hyperliquid, Ethena, and Aptos leading the schedule, according to BeInCrypto.

Key takeaways

• Roughly $1.11 billion in tokens unlocks across crypto projects in early October 2026.
• Hyperliquid frees 3.75 million HYPE ($340 million) on October 6 for a single institutional buyer.
• Ethena releases 171.88 million ENA ($41.52 million) on October 5 to contributors and investors.
• Aptos unlocks 11.31 million APT ($9.06 million) on October 11 across four allocation groups.
• Aerodrome Finance, Movement, and Babylon also add new supply the same week.

Significant crypto token unlocks scheduled for early October 2026

Spanning multiple blockchains, a total of $1.11 billion worth of tokens will be released within the narrow timeframe of October 5 through October 11, and such unlocks have the potential to inject volatility into markets and sway prices over the short term.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token unlock on October 6

Hyperliquid will release 3.75 million HYPE tokens worth $340 million on October 6. Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange running on its own Layer-1 blockchain, built for low-latency trading with on-chain order books and sub-second finality. The platform’s released supply currently stands at 474.83 million HYPE out of a 1 billion total. Notably, the team previously announced that the entire unlocked batch is going to one institutional buyer.

Ethena’s ENA token release on October 5

Ethena unlocks 171.88 million ENA tokens, valued at $41.52 million, on October 5 — about 1.88% of its released supply. Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum best known for its USDe stablecoin, with ENA serving as the governance token. Of the unlocked batch, 93.75 million ENA goes to core contributors and 78.13 million ENA goes to investors, out of a released supply of 9.15 billion against a 15 billion total.

Aptos unlocks APT tokens on October 11

Aptos will release 11.31 million APT tokens worth $9.06 million on October 11, representing 0.64% of its released supply. Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain built for scalable, secure dApps and Web3 applications, using the Move programming language for smart contract execution. The allocation splits across four groups: 3.96 million APT to core contributors, 3.21 million to the community, 2.81 million to investors, and 1.33 million to the Aptos foundation. Released supply sits at 1.76 billion APT, against a total supply of 2.55 billion APT projected through 2035.

Other projects adding supply this week

In addition to these three major unlocks, Aerodrome Finance (AERO), Movement (MOVE), and Babylon (BABY) are also set to release fresh token supply into circulation that same week, contributing further to the larger set of crypto token unlocks being monitored for early October.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.