Sahara AI pumps 21% into a 1.03B token unlock speedrun 🏃‍♂️

Sahara AI (SAHARA) was up approximately 21% as the AI-focused token attempted to recover from a 60% crash two weeks prior, with daily trading volume climbing 342% to over $124 million at press time. The project had denied involvement in the early decline, attributing it to standard trading dynamics and broader crypto market structure.

The team addressed the sell-off in a post on X, outlining changes to its tokenomics, including extending lockup periods. Investor unlocks were pushed back by three months, while founder, core team, and advisor unlocks were postponed for six months, a step intended to keep the circulating supply intact in the short term. Sahara AI also said it planned to introduce a buyback program for its long-term treasury strategy, funded by protocol revenue, while ruling out token burns and confirming the supply would remain fixed.

Market response was bullish, with both whale and retail sentiment showing strong signal strengths. SAHARA broke above a descending trendline on the hourly chart and was pulling back for a retest, with the Bull Bear Power indicator showing buyers in control and cumulative volume delta (CVD) affirming buying pressure. More than 29 million SAHARA were purchased following the team's announcement.

On the daily chart, SAHARA was trading below the low created by the 67% crash after invalidating a bullish reversal pattern on the retest of the neckline at $0.03, with the token near $0.01315 and still below its June low. Reclaiming its pre-crash market cap would require holding the neckline as support, though the broader market structure remained bearish.

The recovery attempt faces a near-term supply event, with Tokenomist AI data showing 30.10% of the released supply, equivalent to 1.03 billion SAHARA tokens worth $14.75 million, set to enter circulation in less than three days.