Vesting
A schedule that releases tokens to team members, investors, or advisors gradually over time.
Token vesting is a lockup mechanism that releases allocated tokens to team members, early investors, and advisors on a predetermined schedule. Common structures include a 1-year cliff (no tokens released for the first year) followed by 3 years of monthly linear vesting.
Vesting aligns long-term incentives by preventing founders and early backers from dumping tokens immediately after a project launches. Token unlock calendars (tracked by sites like Token Unlocks and Coingecko) are closely watched by traders because large unlocks often create selling pressure.
Accelerated vesting, early unlocks for investors, and poorly structured cliffs are red flags in tokenomics analysis. The best projects have long, patient vesting schedules with meaningful cliffs.