My Thesis for $SLX Ahead of the 2nd Unlock (July 9)

Right now, the funding rate on the $SLX perp pair is -0.13%/1h
If you short-hedge your spot $SLX to protect against the unlock, you’ll be paying ~3.3% per day in funding. Over the next ~9 days until July 9, that’s roughly 26% bleed on your hedge notional.
For example: If you short at $0.45 today, by unlock day the funding payments alone would push your effective breakeven down to around $0.34
If you don’t believe $SLX will dump that hard, shorting as a hedge doesn’t make sense, you’re just bleeding too much.
and here’s the bull case:
Instead of fighting the funding rate, the team can lean into it:
– open long positions on the perp market
– earn the high funding rate (~8%/day) paid by shorts
– use that income to buy spot $SLX on the market
This creates real buying pressure. Combined with tight supply control around the unlock, it can push the price higher.
As price rises:
– the long perp position profits from both price appreciation + ongoing funding income
– more capital becomes available to buy even more spot
– this creates a self-reinforcing flywheel: funding arbitrage funds spot accumulation → higher price → more profits → more buying
So, the question is what catalysts or conditions would actually make this thesis play out for $SLX?