CZ Proposes Price-Triggered Token Unlock Model to Curb Market Dumping

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has floated a new idea for token issuance that aims to address one of the biggest challenges in crypto: market flooding.

Under this new tokenomics model, token unlocks will be triggered only after specific conditions tied to time and price are met.

Conditional Token Unlocks

The Binance founder’s ‘crazy idea,’ shared in a March 1 X post, would have only 10% of tokens initially unlocked for sale while the remaining 90% remains untouched. He stated that the proceeds from the sale would be allocated to development costs, marketing, salaries, and community building.

A key feature of this approach is that future token unlocks would be subject to strict conditions. Zhao explained that each release must take place at least six months after the previous one and on the condition that the new price has sustained at least twice the previous unlock price for more than 30 days.

Additionally, the maximum amount of tokens that can be released at each stage is limited to five percent of the total supply.

Using an example to illustrate the concept, he outlined a scenario where a token created in January at an initial price of $1 would not be eligible for an additional unlock in June unless the price had exceeded $2 for at least 30 days.

If this condition was met on August 3 with the price at $3, the next unlock could not happen until March 3 of the following year and only if the price had risen to at least $6 for the required period.

Project teams would have the discretion to delay or reduce the size of each stage but would not be able to shorten the waiting period or increase the percentage of tokens released.

Zhao stated that this model avoids the problem of coins entering the market when prices are low and incentivizes project teams to focus on long-term growth.

CZ Clarifies He Has No Launch Plans

While introducing the idea, Zhao also mentioned that he had no plans to launch a new coin. He also admitted that even though the model was innovative, it was not a one-size-fits-all solution.

His proposal comes at a time when concerns over pump-and-dump schemes in the crypto market are growing, particularly following the recent collapse of the LIBRA token.

The incident saw LIBRA’s price surge to nearly $5, pushing its market capitalization beyond $4 billion before plummeting to cents and wiping out more than $4.4 billion from its value.

The former CEO has previously voiced his displeasure over market manipulation and pledged support for victims of fraudulent schemes. In line with this, he has donated tokens he received from anonymous market participants to compensate victims of the Test (TST) and Broccoli projects.