Key Crypto Events to Watch This Week (December 16-23) – Macroeconomic Data, Announcements, Token Unlocks

This week is filled with important macroeconomic events and crypto unlocks that could trigger volatility in the market. Over $351 million in crypto unlocks will take place, while central bank and inflation data are under the spotlight in the UK and the US.

Also, important crypto announcements will take place this week.

Here are the top events of the week that might affect the crypto market and trigger volatility.

Top Events This Week, Potentially Affecting the Crypto Market

1. Macroeconomic Data

Deribit shared the most important upcoming economic events this week that could trigger volatility in the markets. More macroeconomic data is set to be released with the most important as follows:

Fed Interest Rate Decision Cut and FOMC Projections (December 18)

On December 18, the next FOMC meeting will take place and the US Fed will reveal its decision about the upcoming interest rate cut in the US. At the moment of writing this article, CME Group data shows a probability of over 97% for a 25 bps interest rate cut.

As we previously reported, interest rate cuts have triggered rallies in BTC prices, according to historical data, so the upcoming decision is worth watching, as it might boost BTC to new ATHs.

Also, the inflation rate YoY will be revealed on the same day in the UK.

BoE Interest Rate Decision (December 19)

The BoE Interest rate decision will be revealed in the UK, while the US will reveal the GDP QoQ data, both important economic details that can influence the market.

Core PCE Price Index MoM in the US (December 20)

On Friday, the Core PCE price index MoM will be revealed in the US along with other important economic data, according to Deribit’s notes.

Deribit highlighted that inflation and central bank-related data in the US and the UK can trigger volatility in the crypto markets.

Also, other upcoming events can impact the market by creating buying or selling pressure: crypto token unlocks.

2. Over $351 Million in Crypto Unlocks (December 16-23)

Data from Tokenomist reveals that during the next 7 days, over $351 million in crypto tokens will be unlocked. The most important token unlocks include:

• Arbitrum (ARB), with a total unlock amount of over $91 million (2.3% of the market cap)
• Metars Genesis (MRS), with a total unlock amount of over $54 million (10.4% of the market cap)
• Space ID (ID), with a total unlock amount of $39.6 million (18.1% of the market cap)
• ApeCoin (APE), with a total unlock amount of $24.18 million (over 2% of the market cap)
• QuantixAI (QAI), with a total unlock amount of over $22 million (over 5% of the market cap)
• Cardano (ADA), with a total unlock amount of almost $20 million (0.1% of the market cap)
• Ethena (ENA), with a total unlock amount of over $15.4 million (0.4% of the market cap)

Apart from QAI and ENA, the other digital assets mentioned above experienced price drops today.

Along with the important macroeconomic data mentioned above, there are some crypto projects set to make important announcements.

3. Crypto Projects Announcements

Stacks’ sBTC Release (December 17)

Stacks will launch sBTC, its new BTC-backed asset for DeFi, tomorrow, December 17. The initial yield for holding sBTC will be 5% APR.

On December 12, the team behind the project announced the upcoming unlocking of Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar market potential. Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 that enables smart contracts and apps with BTC as a secure base layer.

Cosmos’ Big Announcements (December 17, 18 and 19)

Cosmos is set to make three important announcements this week on December 17, 18 and 19. These will reportedly be about the role of Cosmos and ATOM, the future of Interchain Stack, and more.

Earlier today, Cosmos revealed the mission to 100x Cosmos and unlock its full potential. In the notes, the team said that the growth of liquidity within Cosmos and the Cosmos Hub will be Interchain’s top priority in 2025.

Sonic 1 Mainnet Launch

The Sonic 1 mainnet launch is confirmed for sometime during the next week. The network is expected to support 10,000 TPS at sub-second finality.

Today, the team at Sonic announced that the project experienced a huge rise this month: a surge in daily transactions by over 1.400% and a rise in daily addresses by over 1.600%.