Most tokens don't launch with full supply circulating. Team allocations, investor rounds, and ecosystem reserves are locked and 'vest' on a schedule — releasing a set amount monthly or in cliff events.
Why it matters: an unlock increases sellable supply. If a token has 100M circulating and a 20M unlock hits next month, holders face potential 20% new supply — often sold by early investors whose cost basis is far below market.
What to check before holding a token: total vs circulating supply (the fully-diluted valuation vs market cap gap), the unlock calendar (tokenomist and project docs publish these), and who receives unlocks — foundation ecosystem grants hit the market differently than investor tranches.
None of this means unlocks always crash prices — often they're priced in, and strong demand absorbs supply. But trading a token without knowing its unlock schedule is flying blind on a known, scheduled risk.
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