LAB: recovery is possible, but the main risk right now is unlocks

After the recent plunge around the LAB token, there really are chances for a bounce, but in the near term the price is being weighed down by several factors at once. I compiled the current picture to make it easier to assess the risks.

What is working against an upside move right now

Token unlocks. The first wave already passed on July 14—about 16.23 million LAB were unlocked (roughly 1.6% of the total supply). And this is only the beginning: from August to December 2026, the same amount will be unlocked every month. And on August 14, an especially large unlock is expected—around 282 million tokens. Such a sharp increase in supply, absent a corresponding rise in demand, creates significant pressure on the price.
Events from the past few days. On July 20, the project team pulled a substantial portion of liquidity out of the pool. This caused the price to drop by about 23% in a single day, further undermining investor confidence and increasing fears about insider selling.

What could support growth in the future

Product development. If the team successfully delivers new features (for example, an advanced Agentic Intelligence layer) and this leads to real growth in the number of active platform users, the token will gain fundamental support. Increased usefulness of LAB for traders and fee generation over time could boost demand.
A buyback-and-burn mechanism. Part of the protocol’s revenue is directed to buy back and burn tokens. This reduces the total circulating supply, and under sustained demand it works to increase the value of the remaining tokens.
The broader bull trend in the crypto market. Sometimes altcoins recover thanks to a wider market impulse, even if the project itself still has issues for now.

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