Token Unlock
Vesting unlock · Token release · Lock-up expiry
When tokens locked up for a team, investors or a foundation are released on a set schedule and can be sold or moved.
Simple explanation
Background: Korean investors call it 토큰 언락 or 락업 해제 ("lock-up release"). Korea's exchange listing rules treat a token's circulating-supply plan, which its unlock schedule shapes, as material information the issuer must disclose.
When a new coin is created, the project splits the supply into shares for the team, early investors, the foundation and ecosystem, and the community (airdrops and the like). The team and investor shares are usually locked so they cannot be sold right after listing; this is the lock-up. An unlock is the date those tokens become usable. Whoever receives them can sell them or keep holding.
The release patterns have names. Vesting means the right to the tokens builds up over time. A cliff means nothing is released for a set period and then a fixed share comes out at once when it ends; a linear unlock releases the same amount every day or month. A typical schedule reads something like "a 12-month cliff after listing, then equal monthly releases over 24 months". Schedules are usually in the white paper or the token allocation document (tokenomics).
Prices often weaken ahead of an unlock. More tokens can reach the market, and teams and early investors often got theirs very cheaply, so they can sell at a profit even after a big fall. Other traders may also sell first, expecting that selling. A 2024 study by the crypto market maker Keyrock of more than 16,000 unlocks found negative price pressure in about 90% of them, often starting up to 30 days before the date. Team unlocks were the most damaging, while ecosystem unlocks leaned positive.
The impact depends on size and circumstances. Compare the release with today's circulating supply and with daily trading value to gauge the weight. In the same study, big unlocks of more than 5% of total supply often caused immediate volatility, while frequent small ones pressed on the price steadily, if less dramatically. In a strong market, or if recipients keep holding, prices can still rise, so an unlock does not automatically mean a fall.
Schedules can change. If a project delays, brings forward or reallocates an unlock, the future supply plan changes. Under the trading-support best practice Korean exchanges have applied since July 19, 2024, an issuer that fails to disclose material items such as its circulating-supply plan, or changes them without good reason again and again, is disqualified from trading support, so for a coin listed in Korea, unlock changes can feed into the exchange's review. Unlock schedules appear in project disclosures, the exchanges' coin information sheets and the unlock calendars of global data providers, but labels can differ from source to source, so check the original disclosure.
Airdropped tokens are also often released in stages or locked for a while after they are handed out. On listing day only part of the supply may be circulating, so the market cap can look small; if the fully diluted valuation (FDV) is far larger, that much supply is still to come. Many coins keep unlocking for months or years after listing, so look at the remaining schedule, not just today's price.
There is a kimchi premium angle as well. Unlocked tokens have to be moved to an exchange to be sold, so if the coin is dearer in Korea, deposits can pour into Korean exchanges and shrink the premium fast; a sudden rise in deposits can also earn the coin a "deposit surge" caution alert. If selling hits only overseas markets while Korean supply stays put, the overseas price drops first and the premium can briefly widen.
CoinGaja does not show unlock schedules. Listings and delistings shows the caution alerts on Upbit and Bithumb by type, deposit surges included, and the Whale Trade Radar shows which coins single fills of ₩5,000,000 (about $3,600) or more, buying or selling, are crowding into on the four Korean exchanges. Exchange notices such as investment warnings over supply problems are under Exchange notices, and premium changes on the Kimchi premium by coin table.
Example
Coin A: total supply 1 billion, circulating now 200 million, price ₩500 (about $0.36) → market cap ₩100 billion (about $71 million)
Early investors' 120 million: a 12-month cliff after listing → 25% (30 million) at once when it ends, the other 90 million at 5 million a month over 18 months
Cliff day: circulating 200 million → 230 million (+15%); the 30 million released × ₩500 = ₩15 billion (about $10.7 million)
If the coin trades ₩5 billion (about $3.6 million) a day → the release equals 3 days of trading value
Then 5 million a month → about 2.17% of circulating supply in the first month (5 million ÷ 230 million); after 18 months circulating supply is 320 million
At an unchanged ₩500, market cap goes from ₩100 billion to ₩160 billion (about $114 million): +60% with no price rise
※ Example numbers, for illustration only
See it on CoinGaja
Related terms
Comments · ask anything about this term
Comments
No comments yet.