DeepBook token soared after airdrop, but gains could be brief

The DeepBook token was one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies on Oct. 15 after its much-awaited airdrop.

DeepBook (DEEP) token jumped to a high of $0.0380, up by over 261% from its lowest level on Monday. Its market cap rose to over $85 million, while its fully diluted valuation soared to $339 million.

Developed by former Meta Platforms engineers, DeepBook has become one of the biggest players in the Sui (SUI) ecosystem. DeepBook offers a platform that provides higher liquidity, high throughput, low latency, and transparent trading.

Data shows that DeepBook has become one of the biggest players in the Sui Blockchain. According to DeFi Llama, the network handled over $65 million in volume in the last seven days. This makes it the third-biggest decentralized exchange network after Cetus and Turbos.

DeepBook distributed the DEEP tokens to 100,000 early supporters, who received the DBClaimNFT a few months ago. The token will be used to pay for trading fees on the DeepBook platform, provide liquidity, and facilitate governance of the network.

Dilution is a major concern

According to its website, DeepBook has a maximum supply of 10 billion DEEP tokens and an initial circulating supply of 2.5 billion.

The challenge, therefore, is that long-term holders can expect more dilution over the next seven years as the remaining tokens are released to the market. Token unlocks are highly dilutive since they introduce more coins into the market, reducing the value of existing tokens.

The next potential catalyst for the DeepBook token will be more exchange listings by centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. Most of the current trading happens on centralized and decentralized platforms like Bybit, Gate, MEXC, and Cetus.

DeepBook faces the risk of suffering a sharp reversal, as most newly listed tokens rise and then experience a significant decline. For example, Wormhole (W) token initially soared to $1.8632 after its airdrop and has since dropped by over 83%.

ZkSync (ZK) token initially rose to $0.2942 in June and has dropped by over 54% to $0.1337. Likewise, Hamster Kombat rose to $0.0132 and then plunged to $0.0040.

A potential hope for DeepBook’s token is that the crypto industry has improved, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising to $66,000 and the crypto fear and greed index hitting the greed level of 60. Its token could continue rising if this crypto recovery continues.