Ondo Finance's third round of ONDO token unlock is imminent, with a total circulation surge of $737 million.

On January 16, news, the DeFi protocol Ondo Finance is about to enter its third token unlock, with the circulating supply of its native token ONDO expected to surge by 61%, totaling approximately $737 million. Of this, about $123 million will be allocated to private investors, including Pantera Capital and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, while the remaining $614 million will be used for protocol development and ecosystem building. This unlock has become a focal point for investors and the market, and may trigger short-term price fluctuations.

Ondo is a DeFi platform supported by real-world assets (RWA), allowing users to invest in tokens backed by assets such as stocks and U.S. Treasury bonds. The ONDO token serves as a governance token, used for proposals and voting to determine protocol economic parameters and adjustments to underlying smart contracts. The official approach employs a phased unlock mechanism to prevent early investors from cashing out all at once and to incentivize the team to continue developing the protocol.

Although token unlocks are often viewed as potential selling pressure, the actual impact depends on investor strategies. Some private investors or team members may choose to sell some locked tokens at a discount through over-the-counter (OTC) trading, or hold onto them due to confidence in long-term value. Increased OTC activity adds complexity to the market and introduces certain risks. In 2026, investors should be cautious of fraudulent trading cases similar to last year's incident involving Indian OTC broker Aza Ventures.

Since the last unlock in January of last year, the price of ONDO has fallen approximately 68%, and investors are closely watching the market response to this upcoming unlock. Platform data shows that the Ondo protocol holds over $2 billion in deposits, indicating that real-world asset-backed DeFi projects are gradually attracting attention from institutional and individual investors. Moving forward, the market performance of ONDO will be influenced by the unlock schedule, investor behavior, and overall DeFi market sentiment. The next token unlock is scheduled for January 2027, which is expected to further test market liquidity and investor confidence.