$44 million unlock impact causes ZRO to rise 17% against the trend. What will LayerZero announce on February 10?

LayerZero has released a mysterious signal amidst the unlock storm. On January 20th, this cross-chain interoperability protocol announced that “people generally believe in an inevitable concept, believing that one day, the world will no longer be able to ignore it. 2.10.26,” hinting at a major announcement scheduled for February 10th. Coincidentally, on the same day, the ZRO token experienced a large unlock of 25.71 million tokens, worth $44 million. However, market reaction was unexpected — ZRO still rose by 17.3% over the past 7 days, demonstrating clear resilience amid this week’s over $1 billion token unlock wave.

Market Performance Under Unlock Impact

Data comparison: ZRO is not the most aggressive unlock

Multiple projects faced large unlocks this week, but the impact varied significantly:

ZRO’s unlock scale ranks among the top this week, but its market performance has significantly exceeded expectations. According to the latest information, this unlock mainly targeted strategic partners and core contributors rather than retail investors cashing out in large numbers, which may be a key reason why ZRO has been able to withstand selling pressure.

The Logic Behind Market Resilience

ZRO’s ability to rise against the $44 million unlock impact reflects market confidence in LayerZero’s fundamentals. Based on related analyses, this resilience stems from several factors:

• Ecosystem Scale Support: As a cross-chain infrastructure, LayerZero supports over $63 billion in USDT cross-chain transfers, reflecting the protocol’s importance in practical applications.
• Expectation Management: The unlock news was announced in advance, giving the market time to digest expectations and avoiding sudden shocks.
• Project Popularity: Industry consensus suggests 2026 will be “LayerZero silently integrates with everything,” supporting investor confidence.

Market Expectations Behind the Mysterious Announcement

What does “2.10.26” really mean?

LayerZero’s choice to announce a major update on February 10th is intriguing. Unlock impacts are usually absorbed within 1-2 weeks, so by mid-February, market sentiment should have stabilized. This suggests LayerZero may be intentionally creating a relatively stable environment ahead of the announcement.

Based on current information, the announcement could involve:

• Ecosystem Expansion: New cross-chain collaborations or integrations
• Technical Upgrades: Progress on OFT (Omnichain Fungible Token) standards (recently, wBTC and SolvBTC have migrated to the new standard)
• Application Deployment: New mainstream applications or major updates to existing ones
• Ecosystem Incentives: New rounds of ecosystem funds or incentive programs

Market Expectation Scale

Given that ZRO’s price has continued to rise during the unlock, market expectations for this announcement are already quite positive. If the announcement delivers substantial news, it could trigger another price surge. Conversely, if the content falls short of expectations, a correction may occur.

Key Points to Watch Moving Forward

From now until February 10th, investors should monitor:

• Post-unlock Price Stability: How do other projects like PLUME perform, and can they serve as a reference for ZRO?
• Ecosystem Data: Cross-chain transaction volume, active user metrics, and other fundamental indicators continue to improve.
• Market Sentiment: Macro factors (e.g., new policies from Trump or others) influencing the overall market.
• Announcement Teasers: Whether LayerZero team releases more information before February 10th.

Summary

LayerZero’s performance amid the unlock storm demonstrates the resilience of a project with solid fundamentals. The mysterious announcement on February 10th is both a focal point of market anticipation and a test of the project’s execution capability. Currently, market reactions suggest investors have already priced in high expectations for this event. Whether those expectations will be fulfilled will directly influence ZRO’s future trajectory. In the short term, the impact of the unlock has been largely absorbed, and the market is now waiting for substantive good news.