As broader crypto markets struggle to regain momentum, a handful of digital assets stand out amid the turbulence.
Bitcoin (BTC), which surged to a record high of nearly $112,000 last week, dropped to $107,000, while the market cap of all coins tracked by CoinGecko dropped to $3.49 trillion.
Pi Network (PI), Cetus Protocol (CET), and Optimism (OP) have emerged as top tokens to watch, showing relative resilience despite mounting trade-related risks weighing on investor sentiment.
While most major cryptocurrencies face headwinds from weakening momentum and macroeconomic uncertainty, these three projects are drawing our attention.
Pi Network
Pi Network price will be in the spotlight this week as over 70 million more tokens worth $53 million are set to be unlocked. Most unlocks will happen on May 28, when 15.2 million coins will come online.
Pi Network, founded in 2019 by Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan, unlocks new tokens daily. Some 261 million coins are set to be released in June and 1.57 billion in the next 12 months. Unlocks lower the price by increasing the number in circulation, especially when there is no demand.
The Pi coin price has been under pressure in the past few weeks, falling from a monthly high of $1.6692 to $0.7766. This crash accelerated after the developers launched Pi Network Ventures, which will invest $100 million in startups using the Pi coin.
While an ecosystem fund is a positive move, the coin dropped because the announcement did not include a plan to get more tier-1 exchange listings. The developers did not address the centralization issues and the increased supply through token unlocks.
Pi Network has formed a bearish flag pattern on the eight-hour chart, pointing to more downside, potentially to this month’s low of $0.5545.
Cetus Protocol
Cetus, the biggest decentralized exchange on Sui (SUI), made headlines last week when hackers drained tokens worth millions of dollars. The protocol managed to freeze $162 million worth of funds before the hackers moved them completely.
In a statement, Cetus hoped for a successful community vote to unlock the frozen $162 million worth of funds. Sui said that it was designing the on-chain vote, which will likely happen this week.
Cetus is also aiming to reach a whitehat settlement with the hackers. It has also offered a $5 million bounty to help identify the hackers and take legal action.
CET, its native token, has been in a freefall, moving from a high of $0.2568 on May 22 to $0.1300, its lowest level since April 23.
Optimism
Optimism, a top layer-2 network, will be in the spotlight this week as it unlocks $23.4 million coins, accounting for 1.88% of the float. These unlocks are part of the regular monthly releases.
OP token has dropped from a high of $2.7715 in November last year to $0.7320 today. It has remained below the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. It also formed an ascending broadening wedge, a popular bearish reversal pattern.
Maverick Protocol, dYdX, Celo, and Velas Finance are some of the other cryptocurrencies with large token unlocks this week.