Token Unlock Calendar: Understanding Cliff and Linear Token Releases
How Do Cliff and Linear Vesting Differ in a Token Unlock Calendar?
Monad's first big team unlock lands on November 24, 2026, exactly one year after its mainnet went live. That single date explains why traders are checking a token unlock calendar this month.
A token unlock calendar lists the dates when locked tokens become free to move. Some dates release one large block, and others release a small amount every month. The difference changes how much new supply reaches the market.
What Is a Token Unlock Calendar?
A token unlock calendar is a dated list of releases from locked supply. Public pages that track a crypto token unlock schedule usually show the token, the amount, the dollar value, and the group that receives it.
Token vesting is the schedule that controls when allocated tokens become available. The calendar is that schedule laid out date by date.
Supply has two layers. Total supply is every token the project will ever create, while circulating supply is the part already trading. Unlocks shift tokens from locked supply into circulating supply.
How Do Cliff and Linear Vesting Work?
Cliff vesting: a wait, then one block
A cliff is a lock that ends in a single step. On that date a first block becomes available, often a quarter of the allocation when a four-year plan has a one-year cliff.
Arbitrum's token unlock calendar shows the pattern. Its official distribution documents say team and investor tokens carry four-year lock-ups. The first unlocks come one year after the March 16, 2023, token generation event, with monthly releases after that.
Those two allocations are 26.94% and 17.53% of a 10 billion supply, or 4.447 billion ARB combined. A quarter of that is about 1.11 billion ARB, which matches the block calendars showed for March 16, 2024.
Linear vesting: small, steady releases
Linear vesting spreads an allocation evenly across time. On a 48-month plan, each month frees about 2.08% of the allocation, so every step stays small and predictable.
After its cliff, Arbitrum follows this rule for insiders. The remaining 75% of the 4.447 billion ARB is split into 36 equal monthly releases of about 92.65 million ARB.
Cliff plus linear: the common mix
Many insider schedules combine the two. The Aptos Foundation's published tokenomics give core contributors and investors no APT for twelve months. Months 13 to 18 then release 3/48 of each allocation monthly. After that, 1/48 follows every month until the four-year mark of the October 2022 mainnet launch.
Six months at 3/48 free 37.5% of the allocation. By that schedule, insider unlocks were due to finish in October 2026.
| Feature | Cliff | Linear | Cliff plus linear |
| Release pattern | One block on a set date | Equal small releases | Wait, then a block, then a steady stream. |
| Supply effect | Sharp and easy to date | Gentle and continuous | Sharp first step, steady tail |
| Example | Arbitrum, March 2024 | Arbitrum's 36 monthly releases | Aptos insiders |
On a token unlock calendar, a cliff appears as one tall entry, while linear releases appear as a long row of small ones. Most real schedules sit between the two.
What Does Monad Reveal About a Token Unlock Calendar?
The tokenomics overview from Monad, published in November 2025, says all team tokens stay locked for the first year after mainnet launch.
They release at the one-year mark and across the three years that follow. On the anniversary, released team tokens are about 10.7% of the initial supply.
Investor and treasury tokens follow a four-year schedule with a one-year cliff, then equal 1/48 monthly releases.
The wording leaves room for two readings of the investor cliff. One counts twelve monthly installments at once, near 4.93 billion MON. The other counts only the first installment.
Early-November calendar figures for November 24 ranged from roughly $132 million to $336 million. The available data suggests that gap comes from this reading.
Hyperliquid shows the reverse problem. A published vesting schedule listed about 9.92 million HYPE for core contributors on November 6, 2026.
A team member said on the project's Discord that 180,000 HYPE would be distributed, roughly 1.8% of the modeled figure.
A token unlock calendar models what could be released. It does not confirm what actually moves.
How Large Are Monthly Unlocks Across the Market?
Scheduled unlocks for November added up to about $1.72 billion as of November 6, 2026, roughly 13% below October, based on November’s top ten unlocks.
The total looks bigger than it really is, since more than half of it came from one modeled HYPE release that the team’s 180,000 HYPE plan cut down sharply.
July tells a different story. Between July 1 and August 1, 2026, releases totaled close to $2 billion, and only about $238 million of that came from cliff events.
The remaining $1.75 billion came from steady linear releases, a split laid out in July’s cliff and linear split.
A year earlier, last November's weekly unlocks totaled about $476 million for November 10 to 17, 2025.
Expert Analysis: Reading a Token Unlock Calendar Correctly
The available data suggests a token unlock calendar works best as a ceiling. It shows the most supply that could move on a date, not the supply that will.
| Check | Why it matters |
| Size against circulating supply | Total supply flatters the ratio. Arbitrum's 1.11 billion ARB is about 11% of a 10 billion supply, yet reports before the unlock put circulating supply near 1.275 billion ARB. |
| Who receives the tokens? | Team and investor allocations may sell. Treasury and ecosystem releases tend to spread out over time. |
| Market depth | The same dollar release hits a thin order book harder than a deep one. |
| Actual transfers | Wallet moves to exchanges say more than a schedule does. |
Valuation metrics need the same care. Market cap multiplies price by circulating supply, while FDV (fully diluted valuation) uses total supply.
A wide gap between the two often signals heavy future unlocks. A token unlock calendar shows how quickly that gap could close.
What Are the Main Risks of Relying on a Token Unlock Calendar?
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A token unlock calendar can overstate releases, since Hyperliquid's November 6 entry listed about 9.92 million HYPE against a stated team plan of 180,000.
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Trackers can read the same terms differently, so two calendars may publish very different totals for Monad's investor cliff.
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Unlocked does not mean sold, because recipients may hold, stake, or sell, and recipient-level data is rarely public beforehand.
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Price reactions vary, with some tokens sliding before a date, some after, and some barely moving.
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Schedules can change, because projects may amend terms, so official documents need rechecking before each date.
Conclusion
A token unlock calendar turns vesting terms into dates. Cliff plans release a large block at once, and linear plans release small amounts steadily. Most insider schedules, including those at Arbitrum, Aptos, and Monad, combine both.
Headline numbers and actual releases often don’t match. Monad’s investor cliff is read in two different ways by different calendars, and Hyperliquid’s team plan came in far below its modeled schedule.
What remains uncertain is the size of Monad's November 24 release and the actual HYPE transfers.
The next checks are official tokenomics documents, unlock size against circulating supply, recipient wallets, and on-chain transfers. Those apply to any token unlock calendar.
Disclaimer:
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile and high-risk, and token unlock schedules can change. Research official documents and consult a licensed adviser before any decision.
