Movement’s token, MOVE, has been making a comeback, but traders are already eyeing a big event that could shake things up a $6 million token unlock scheduled for September 9.
At the time of writing, MOVE is trading around $0.126, up 7% in the last 24 hours. Over the past week, it’s climbed about 6%, though it’s still down 11% for the month and remains a staggering 91% below its all-time high of $1.45 from December 2024.
Momentum has been strong on the trading side. 24-hour trading volume jumped 65% to $32.8 million, while derivatives activity mirrored the move. According to Coinglass, futures volume spiked 50% to $38.9 million, and open interest ticked up 4.3% to $51.2 million. Rising open interest alongside higher volume is often seen as a sign of renewed speculative demand.
Monza Upgrade Spurs On-Chain Growth
The recent recovery isn’t just hype Movement’s Monza upgrade has delivered notable improvements across its ecosystem. Since September 5, the project has reported:
- 10x increase in decentralized exchange volume
- 12x faster latency
- 7x growth in stablecoin TVL
- 61% jump in overall TVL
DeFiLlama data shows Movement’s TVL now stands at $165 million, with $64 million in DEX trading during the first week of September and a stablecoin supply of $45 million.
The Token Unlock Risk
The bullish sentiment faces a test with the upcoming unlock of 50 million MOVE tokens, worth around $6.25 million. That represents about 1.9% of total supply, with 26.5% of tokens currently in circulation and the rest still locked.
Large unlocks often create selling pressure if demand can’t keep up with the new supply. If that happens, MOVE’s recent gains could be short-lived.
Technical Picture: Neutral but Tense
On the daily chart, MOVE is trying to break out of consolidation. Price is currently testing resistance at $0.126, with Bollinger Bands narrowing a setup that usually points to upcoming volatility.
- RSI sits at 50, showing neutral momentum.
- Other oscillators like Williams %R, CCI, and Stochastic also show no strong bias.
- MACD is flashing a buy signal.
Moving averages paint a mixed picture: the short-term 10- and 20-day EMAs are bullish, but the 30-, 50-, and 100-day averages still lean bearish.
For levels to watch:
- Resistance sits at $0.133, with potential upside to $0.14–$0.15 if demand holds.
- Support is near $0.112, and a failure to defend $0.12 especially after the unlock could push MOVE back toward its monthly lows around $0.11 or below.
Bottom Line
Movement’s ecosystem is showing real progress with strong on-chain growth, but the September 9 unlock could be the deciding factor in whether MOVE extends its rally or slips back into weakness. Traders will be watching closely to see if the market can absorb the fresh supply or if sellers seize the moment.
