What a token unlock is
Many crypto projects create their full token supply at launch. They then give parts of it to different groups: the team, early investors, a foundation, an ecosystem fund and the community. Most of these allocations do not become available at once.
A lock rule holds the tokens for a period. A smart contract or a legal agreement sets the rule. An unlock is the moment when a locked token becomes transferable. After that moment, the holder can move it, stake it or send it to an exchange.
The reason for locks is alignment. A project wants its team and early investors to stay involved while the product develops. A lock gives time for the project to build before large amounts of tokens can move.
The calendar of unlocks is therefore a calendar of supply that can become tradable. It is not a calendar of sales. The sections below separate these two ideas step by step.
An unlock changes what tokens may move. It does not change what holders choose to do.
Vesting schedules
Vesting is the process by which an allocation becomes available over time. A vesting schedule states how much unlocks and when. Most schedules combine a waiting period with a release pattern.
A typical schedule might read as follows: nothing unlocks for the first period, then a first part unlocks, then the rest unlocks in equal parts until the end date. The first waiting period is the cliff. The equal parts after it are a linear release.
Each project writes its own schedule. Lengths of cliffs, lengths of vesting and the shares released at each step vary a lot between projects. Projects publish them in documents often called tokenomics. Some encode them in a vesting contract that anyone can read on chain.
The app also labels some events as quadratic. In a quadratic schedule, the release amount grows in each period instead of staying equal. If an event carries a type label, treat the label as a summary and read the project’s own schedule for the exact rule.
Cliff versus linear unlocks
A cliff unlock releases a large block on one date. Before the date, nothing moves. On the date, the full block becomes transferable. A cliff is easy to see on a calendar because it appears as one large event.
A linear unlock releases small equal parts at regular steps, for example each day or each month. No single step is large. The total over a year can still be large, but the supply reaches the market in a smooth flow.
The two types differ in what you can learn from a calendar. A cliff gives a date and an amount. A linear schedule gives a rate. A calendar that lists only the biggest events may show cliffs well and show linear flows only in part.
Compare the size of a single step with the normal trading volume of the token. A step that is small against daily volume is easy for the market to absorb. A step that is large against volume is harder to absorb. Volume and depth both matter, and both change over time.
- Cliff: one large block on one date.
- Linear: small equal parts at regular steps.
- Quadratic: release amounts grow with each step.
Allocation categories
Each unlock belongs to an allocation category. The category tells you who receives the tokens. Different recipients have different costs and different goals, so the category is useful context.
The app groups categories into six families: investors, team, community, treasury, foundation and other. Investors include seed, private and public sale buyers. The team family covers founders, employees and advisors.
Community covers ecosystem funds, airdrops, rewards, liquidity programs and staking incentives. Treasury and foundation cover reserves that a DAO or a foundation controls for long-term development.
These groups act in different ways. An early investor may hold a large unrealized gain or may face a fund deadline. A team member may have a long-term view of the project. A treasury may release tokens to pay for development or grants. Do not assume the behavior of a group from its name alone.
Category labels also come from third-party data and may be coarse. A label such as “ecosystem” can hide a large share that goes to insiders. When the category matters for your question, read the original tokenomics document.
Size as a percentage of circulating supply
A dollar value alone says little. One million dollars is large for a small token and tiny for a large one. A better measure divides the unlocked amount by the circulating supply. The result shows how much the freely tradable supply grows.
The app shows this ratio as a supply impact in percent. It tells you the relative size of one event for that token. It does not tell you how the market will respond.
The denominator needs care. Circulating supply counts tokens that are freely tradable. Total supply counts all tokens that exist. Fully diluted supply counts all tokens that will ever exist. The same unlock gives a different percentage against each denominator.
Circulating supply is also an estimate. Data providers define “circulating” in different ways. Some subtract treasury wallets, locked wallets and staked tokens, and others do not. The number can change when a provider updates its method.
The block below lists dated unlock events from the app for the current week. Read each event by its size against supply, its category and its type.
Transferable does not mean sold
After an unlock, a holder has several options. The holder can keep the tokens, stake them, lock them again, use them in governance, send them to a new wallet or send them to an exchange. Selling is only one of these options.
Many recipients have reasons to keep their tokens. A team may want to stay aligned with the project. A fund may hold a position for a longer horizon. A treasury may need the tokens for later grants. Other recipients may want to sell as soon as they can.
You cannot tell which case applies from the calendar alone. Evidence of selling appears in other data: transfers to exchange addresses, changes in open interest and funding, and changes in trading volume. Even these only suggest an action. They do not prove intent.
A careful statement is therefore: this unlock increases the supply that can be sold. A careless statement is: this unlock will create selling. The first follows from the data. The second needs evidence that the data does not contain.
Unlocked supply is potential supply. Realized selling is a separate fact.
OTC deals, hedging and known dates
Unlock dates are public. Traders know them in advance. A market that knows a date can adjust before the date, so part of the effect may appear earlier than the unlock, or may not appear at all.
Holders also have tools that avoid the open market. An insider can sell a block in an over-the-counter (OTC) deal to a single buyer. The sale does not touch the exchange order book, so a chart of exchange prices may show nothing, even though ownership changed.
A holder can also hedge. A hedge is a position that offsets price risk. For example, a holder of a large token balance can open a short perpetual position. The holder then keeps the tokens and removes most of the price exposure.
Hedging leaves traces in derivatives data. Open interest can rise, and the funding rate can move toward the short side. These traces are only hints. Many other traders also use the same instruments for other reasons.
All three effects mean that the calendar is an input, not a conclusion. The date tells you when supply can move. The behavior around the date tells you what holders did.
Schedule changes and data quality
A published schedule can change. Governance votes can extend a lock. A project can restructure its allocations or move tokens into a new vesting contract. A holder can agree to a longer lock in return for another benefit.
Calendar data lags behind such changes. The data comes from public tokenomics documents and from data providers who update on a schedule. The app refreshes its data at regular intervals, but a change on the project side may reach the calendar later.
The app also lists only events above a minimum size and only events that increase circulating supply. A small unlock, or a move between two locked wallets, will not appear. The absence of an event on the calendar therefore does not prove that no unlock happens.
For an important decision, verify the schedule at the source. Read the latest tokenomics document or the vesting contract. Check the date, the amount and the recipient category against what the calendar shows.
A calendar is a summary of public schedules. The project’s own documents and contracts are the primary source.
Checklist
- Identify the unlock type: cliff, linear or quadratic.
- Compare the amount with circulating supply, not only dollars.
- Check which allocation category receives the tokens.
- Look for transfers and derivatives changes around the date.
- Verify the schedule in the project’s own documents.
Questions
What is the difference between a cliff and a linear unlock?
A cliff unlock releases a large block of tokens on one date. A linear unlock releases small equal parts at regular steps, such as daily or monthly. Many schedules use both: a cliff first, then a linear release until the end date. Read the schedule of each token to see which pattern applies.
Does a token unlock always cause selling?
No. An unlock only makes tokens transferable. Holders can keep, stake, lock or sell them, and some sell over the counter without touching exchange order books. Evidence of selling comes from other data, such as exchange transfers, derivatives positioning and trading volume.
Why compare an unlock with circulating supply?
A dollar amount has no scale on its own. Dividing the unlocked amount by circulating supply shows how much the tradable supply grows. Check which supply figure a source uses, because circulating, total and fully diluted supply give different percentages for the same event.
Can an unlock schedule change after it is published?
Yes. Governance votes can extend locks, and projects can restructure allocations or move tokens to new vesting contracts. Calendars update with a delay. For an important decision, check the project’s latest tokenomics document or its vesting contract on chain.