Token vesting schedules decide when allocated tokens become transferable. This calculator turns a total allocation, an unlock at the token generation event (TGE), a cliff and a linear vesting period into a month-by-month unlock table, so you can see when supply arrives.
How to use it
- Enter the total number of tokens in the allocation.
- Enter the share unlocked at TGE, as a percentage.
- Enter the cliff in months.
- Enter the linear vesting period, in months, that follows the cliff.
- Read the monthly unlock table and the month when the allocation is fully vested.
The three parts of a schedule
A typical schedule has three parts. The TGE unlock is the share available immediately at launch. The cliff is a waiting period during which nothing more unlocks. Linear vesting releases the remaining tokens in equal monthly amounts over the vesting period.
This calculator starts linear vesting at the end of the cliff, with the first monthly amount arriving one month later. Some schedules instead release a lump at the cliff for the months already elapsed; check the actual terms, because that version puts much more supply on the market on a single day. If the vesting period is zero, everything that remains unlocks at the cliff.
Worked example
Illustrative inputs: 120,000 tokens, 10% at TGE, a 12-month cliff and 24 months of linear vesting.
After TGE, 108,000 tokens remain. They vest at 4,500 a month from month 13 through month 36, so the allocation is fully vested at month 36: the cliff plus the vesting period.
Put another way, each month after the cliff adds 3.75 percentage points of the allocation (4,500 ÷ 120,000). At the first anniversary only the 10% TGE share is available; just over half is unlocked by month 24, and the last quarter arrives in the final six months.
| Month | Unlocked tokens | Share of allocation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 (TGE) | 12,000 | 10.00% |
| 12 (end of cliff) | 12,000 | 10.00% |
| 13 | 16,500 | 13.75% |
| 18 | 39,000 | 32.50% |
| 24 | 66,000 | 55.00% |
| 30 | 93,000 | 77.50% |
| 36 | 120,000 | 100.00% |
Why unlocks matter to holders
A vesting schedule is a supply calendar. When team, early-investor or treasury allocations unlock, their holders are able to sell, and large unlocks relative to the tokens already circulating can weigh on the price. Whether holders actually sell is unknowable; the schedule only shows when they can.
To judge size, compare each month's unlock with the circulating supply at that time rather than with the total supply. A 4,500-token monthly unlock is small against 10 million circulating tokens and large against 100,000.
If you receive vesting tokens
If you receive tokens through a vesting arrangement, whether for work, services or an investment, the tax treatment depends on why you received them and when you obtained rights to them. CRA's general guidance says gains on crypto-assets can be business income or capital gains depending on the facts; it does not specifically address token vesting. Get advice before the first unlock.
Record the date and CAD value of each unlock you receive and the wallet it arrives in; CRA's records guidance asks for these details for every crypto-asset transaction. Track the cost of unlocked tokens with the ACB calculator.
Limits of the model
The calculator models a single linear schedule. Real allocations often have separate schedules for different groups, quarterly rather than monthly steps, or unlocks tied to milestones. Model each group separately and add the results. The table runs for 48 months.
Unlocked does not mean easy to sell: a token can be transferable yet trade too thinly to sell without moving the price. If a third party holds your tokens until they vest, you also depend on that party staying solvent and honouring the terms.
What this means for you
Look at the unlock schedule before buying a newer token: large cliff unlocks are when early holders can first sell. The month-by-month table shows how much supply each date adds.
If you receive vesting tokens as pay or for services, they are generally income when you receive them, at their value then. That value becomes their cost base.
Definitions
- TGE
- Token generation event: the launch, when the first share usually unlocks.
- Cliff
- A period after launch with no further unlocks.
- Linear vesting
- Equal unlocks each month over the vesting period.