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World desk5 min

Crypto Token Vesting Schedules Explained: Unlocks, Cliffs, and Dilution

A crypto token unlock changes when allocated tokens may be released, not necessarily when they enter circulation or are sold. Learn how to read cliffs, linear vesting, and supply figures.
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A token vesting schedule says when allocated tokens may be released from restrictions. A cliff delays the first scheduled release; linear vesting spreads releases across a period. Neither an unlock date nor a vesting calendar proves that tokens immediately enter circulating supply, are sold, or will push a token’s price down.

What a token vesting schedule tells you

Projects allocate tokens to groups such as contributors, investors, a community, a public sale, or a treasury. A vesting schedule sets when and under what conditions some of an allocation becomes releasable. Read each schedule against its stated denominator: a percentage may refer to one recipient group’s allocation, the token’s total supply, or another measure.

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A token generation event (TGE) unlock is the share, if any, available at the token launch. It is one possible schedule feature, not a standard requirement. A schedule can specify no TGE release, a partial release, or another arrangement.

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Cliffs and linear vesting

A cliff is a period before the first scheduled release. Once it ends, the terms may release a portion at once, begin a continuing schedule, or specify some other pattern. “Linear” generally means release at a steady rate over a defined period, but the cadence and implementation depend on the project. Nibiru, for example, says its NIBI linear vesting runs continuously through smart contracts, releasing small amounts each block; that describes NIBI’s implementation, not every token’s.

What “unlock” does—and does not—mean

An unlock is a scheduled release or change in restriction status. Whether recipients can claim, transfer, or sell tokens at that point depends on the token’s contract, claim process, custody arrangements, and project terms. Those steps are distinct from a provider’s decision to classify tokens as circulating, a transfer to an exchange, or an actual sale.

Unlocks, circulating supply, and dilution are different

“Dilution” can refer to different supply changes, so identify the mechanism. Newly issued tokens increase total supply. By contrast, tokens that were already issued but locked may become available to recipients without increasing total supply; the liquid portion of supply, or the amount a data provider classifies as circulating, may change. Do not treat these as the same event.

For market analysis, compare an unlock with the relevant supply measure rather than relying on a headline percentage alone. A percentage of an investor allocation is not automatically that same percentage of total supply or current circulating supply. Recipient concentration, transferability, liquidity, demand, and recipient behavior also affect what an unlock could mean for the market.

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What published schedules look like

The following are project-specific disclosures, not industry norms. Nibiru’s documentation lists a fully diluted supply of 1.5 billion NIBI and gives the allocations and schedule details below. Its page’s update history lists November 12, 2024 as its last update; the figures were available on the page when accessed in 2026. Nibiru’s vesting documentation says linear vesting is continuous and automatic through smart contracts, with small amounts unlocking each block.

Project allocation Allocation share Published release detail
NIBI core contributors/team 15.3% of the listed fully diluted supply See the project’s schedule for the applicable release terms.
NIBI seed investors 8.5% of the listed fully diluted supply 0% at TGE; a cliff for 25% of the allocation, then linear vesting of the other 75% over 36 months.
NIBI post-seed investors 8.2% of the listed fully diluted supply See the project’s schedule for the applicable release terms.
NIBI public sale 8.0% of the listed fully diluted supply 10% unlock at launch, then linear vesting of the remaining 90% over 12 months.

OpenLedger Foundation’s published $OPEN allocation page gives investors 18.29% of supply, with a 12-month cliff followed by linear unlocks over 36 months. It lists a 15.00% team allocation, no team tokens unlocked at TGE, and a 12-month cliff followed by linear unlocking over the next 36 months. These figures describe OpenLedger’s disclosures, not a typical schedule. OpenLedger Foundation’s token allocation page.

How to evaluate a token unlock calendar

  1. Separate recipient groups. Note whether each allocation belongs to the team, investors, ecosystem, treasury, public sale, or liquidity pool. Do not merge groups if the project reports them separately.
  2. Write down the denominator. Record the total allocation and the amount scheduled to release, identifying whether each figure is a share of that allocation, total supply, or current circulating supply.
  3. Map the schedule terms. Capture any TGE release, cliff, post-cliff pattern, duration, and milestone conditions. Do not infer a precise date from “monthly after TGE” unless the project defines the date convention.
  4. Check what enforces the terms. A published schedule and an on-chain vesting contract are different kinds of evidence. Confirm whether a contract enforces the stated release terms rather than assuming a web page alone does so.
  5. Check timing precision and assumptions. Tokenomist’s methodology distinguishes month, week, day, hour, block, second, and undetermined timing. A month-level date may mean any time within that month, and some dates are estimates where public details are incomplete. Its methodology page explains that its data may come from project information, vesting contracts, private confirmations, or on-chain inference.
  6. Keep release separate from market activity. Check whether released tokens are claimable and transferable, how a data provider classifies them, and whether there is evidence of exchange transfers or sales. A calendar alone cannot establish those later events.
  7. Compare like with like. For two allocations, compare initial unlocked share, release size relative to current float, recipient concentration, cliff versus gradual release, duration, and evidence quality. A longer schedule is not automatically safer.

Tokenomist describes its token pages as bringing together allocations, release schedules, emissions, and tokenomics references. Its views can help locate schedules and compare stated timing, but check their assumptions against project disclosures or contract evidence before treating a displayed date as definitive. Tokenomist’s features page.

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What an unlock can imply for price

A scheduled release can increase the amount of tokens available to recipients, but its market effect depends on facts beyond the calendar: the release’s size relative to the relevant supply measure, recipients’ ability to transfer or sell, concentration, market liquidity, demand, and recipient behavior. An unlock does not establish that recipients will sell or that the price will fall. The cited project disclosures and schedule references do not establish a reliable cross-project statistic for typical price declines around unlocks, so a universal percentage forecast is not supported.

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