Token unlocks and vesting: reading supply beyond the headline number
Crypto news regularly carries headlines like "large token unlock this week". They point at something important: the number of tokens that can be traded today is often much smaller than the number that will exist. When the rest arrives is set by vesting schedules — and whether those schedules are enforced by code or only by a promise makes a real difference.
Circulating, total and fully diluted supply
Three supply figures turn up on almost every token page:
- Circulating supply — tokens currently in the market and free to move.
- Total supply — every token that exists right now, including those still locked or held in reserves.
- Maximum supply — the most that will ever exist, if there's a cap.
Fully diluted valuation (FDV) multiplies the current price by the maximum (or total) supply: what would the whole supply be worth at today's price? The gap between market capitalisation (circulating supply × price) and FDV shows how much supply is still waiting to arrive.
Mined coins such as Bitcoin release new supply on a fixed schedule written into the protocol, which halvings and supply schedules covers. Many newer tokens work differently: most of the supply is created at launch, divided between groups, and only partly released.
How vesting works: cliffs and linear release
A token's allocation is how its supply is divided — typically between the team, early investors, a foundation or treasury, community programmes and a public sale. Insider allocations usually come with a vesting schedule built from two parts:
- A cliff — a period during which nothing is released. After it ends, a first portion unlocks at once.
- Linear vesting — after the cliff, the remainder is released gradually, often monthly or every block, until the full allocation is out.
For example, a team allocation might have a 12-month cliff followed by 24 months of monthly releases. On the day the cliff ends, a sizeable amount becomes movable; after that, smaller amounts arrive each month. The purpose is alignment: people who built or funded the project should stay committed for years, not exit on launch day.
Unlock dates and low-float launches
An unlock doesn't mean tokens will be sold. Recipients may hold or use them. But it does change who can sell, and how much. When a large allocation — especially one early investors received at a much lower price — becomes movable at once, the market watches the date in advance. That's why unlock calendars exist and why unlocks make headlines: they're supply events known ahead of time. What happens to the price around them is not something anyone can reliably predict, and this article doesn't try.
The same logic explains why "low float, high FDV" launches deserve caution. When only a small share of the supply circulates, thin trading can set the price, and the FDV can look enormous compared with the money that has actually gone in. Holders then face a long stream of future supply from people who often paid far less. That isn't automatically a scam — but the headline market cap tells you little, and the unlock schedule tells you a lot.
Enforced by code, or by a promise?
A vesting schedule is only as strong as whatever enforces it:
- On-chain vesting contracts. Tokens sit in a smart contract that releases them only according to its schedule — a time lock applied to tokens. Nobody can withdraw early, as long as the contract itself can't be changed.
- Custodial or legal arrangements. A custodian or investor agreements govern the tokens. These can be legitimate, but you're trusting the arrangement and usually can't check it yourself.
- Promises. A whitepaper chart saying "team tokens are locked for a year", while the tokens sit in an ordinary wallet. Nothing stops them moving tomorrow.
On-chain contracts have their own catch: if an admin can change the schedule, upgrade the code or withdraw the tokens, the lock is only as trustworthy as that admin key.
How to check a token's allocation yourself
You don't need to be a developer for a basic check:
- Find the published allocation and schedule in the project's documentation: who gets what, with what cliff and release period.
- Look at the holder list on a block explorer. Large holders should match the allocation; a big unexplained wallet deserves a question.
- Check what the large holders are. A vesting contract shows up as a contract, ideally with verified source code. An ordinary address labelled "locked" in a spreadsheet is not locked.
- Read the contract's settings if you can: beneficiary, start date, cliff, release schedule, and whether an owner can change or cancel it.
- Compare with the circulating figure. If the project's number doesn't add up with what you see on-chain, ask why.
These checks overlap with the warning signs in honeypots and rug pulls, where insiders holding unlocked supply is a common red flag.
Where SSP fits
SSP is a wallet, not a vesting service. SSP vaults are pure multisig with no time-based spending conditions, so they can't enforce a vesting schedule. What multisig does is make sure no single person can move funds alone. For teams holding reserves or tokens they've received, SSP Enterprise vaults require M of N signers to approve each payment — the core of a treasury policy for small teams.
The honest summary
Circulating supply is what trades today; total supply and FDV include everything still waiting. Vesting schedules decide when the rest arrives, usually with a cliff followed by gradual release.
Before trusting a schedule, check how it's enforced: a verified on-chain contract without a backdoor is strongest, while a promise in a document can change at any time. Reading the allocation and unlock calendar won't predict prices, but it tells you what supply is coming and who controls it.
