Boundless (ZKC) Price Prediction

Deep Dive

1. Mainnet Prover Economics (Mixed Impact)

Overview:
Boundless’ Proof of Verifiable Work (PoVW) went live on September 15, requiring provers to stake ZKC to earn rewards. Current staking stands at ~7M ZKC (3.5% of circulating supply). The protocol’s ability to attract provers for cross-chain proofs (Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin via BitVM) will drive demand.

What this means:
Near-term price depends on whether staking growth outpaces inflation. With 75% of new ZKC emissions going to provers, increased adoption could create buy pressure for collateral – but failure to scale proving demand might leave excess tokens flooding markets.

2. Post-Listing Dynamics (Bearish Impact)

Overview:
ZKC debuted on Coinbase, Binance, and Upbit between September 12-15, 2025. Despite initial hype (ATH $1.52 on debut day), price collapsed 63% to $0.56 by September 26. Early investors received tokens at $0.15-$0.30 in the Kaito sale, creating profit-taking incentives.

What this means:
The 200M circulating supply (20% of total) remains vulnerable to unlocks: 50% of seed/private sale tokens vest through March 2026. Monitoring exchange reserves for depletion of post-listing sell pressure is critical.

3. Inflation vs. Utility (Bearish Bias)

Overview:
ZKC’s tokenomics feature 7% inflation in Year 1 (decreasing to 3% by 2033), with 75% of new tokens allocated to provers. At current prices, this adds ~$5.9M monthly sell pressure from prover rewards alone.

What this means:
Sustained price recovery requires either:
1) Massive proving demand absorbing new tokens (unlikely until multi-chain adoption matures)
2) Speculative trading volume exceeding $200M/day (current 24h volume: $199M)

Conclusion

ZKC faces uphill battles against inflation and vesting unlocks, though proving network growth could stabilize prices by late 2026. The 7-day RSI at 27.54 suggests oversold conditions, but with altcoin sentiment fragile (Fear & Greed Index: 32), patience is key. Can staking surpass 20% of supply before Year-1 emissions peak?