How not to get dumped (literally)

Hey loves, 

As a girlie in stem, one of the first things I had to learn when entering this space was vesting.

At its core, vesting is about stability and alignment. It smooths volatility, prevents “pump and dump” chaos, If I had to compare it to something I know, it would be like an an economic pacing tool. 

And yes, vesting looks different depending on who we’re talking about (teams, VCs, or the community). Today, we’re zooming in on community vesting, aka how regular holders like you and me actually get our tokens over time.

Dictionary moment

Let’s open the dictionary cause it’s fine if you don’t know every concept: 

Understanding vesting schedules is key to making sense of how tokens actually move from locked supply into circulation basically how to get that bag

Vesting schedule: At the simplest level, a schedule lays out the when and how much.

Most include: 

a cliff period, a lock-up window where nothing is released. Once it ends, the first batch unlocks and the regular schedule kicks in;

a vesting period, which defines the total length of time tokens will unlock;

a release interval, meaning how often portions are distributed (monthly, quarterly, etc.);

and finally the total allocation, or the number of tokens subject to the plan.

Within these structures, projects use different approaches. 

Linear vesting spreads tokens evenly across the entire vesting period, creating a steady drip into the market. 

Graded vesting unlocks tokens in chunks at different intervals, often starting smaller and increasing over time. 

Cliff vesting is more abrupt, after the initial cliff, all or a large portion of tokens are released at once, followed by (or instead of) a slower unlock schedule.

Each style signals something different about how a project balances fairness, stability, and long-term alignment.

Why vesting matters (beyond “because everyone does it”)

Okay here’s a small TL;DR so we don’t talk too much about this.

• Price defense: Throttles sell pressure at launch and after major unlocks so you don’t eat a 40% red candle in one afternoon.

• Incentive alignment: Teams, investors, contributors, and community earn over time, so success has a clock, not a slot machine.

• Lower volatility, higher confidence: Predictable unlocks = fewer ambushes for traders, calmer order books, sturdier narratives.

• Trust & governance: Transparent schedules signal discipline. Hidden cliffs are how you lose the room.

Glad we got that out of the way

How Vesting models play out

No vesting

The first one would be no vesting lol. Meaning immediate unlock. ( ik you love this shit)

What it is: 100% liquid on claim (airdrop/sale).
Why teams do it: Day one decentralization, governance quorum fast, simple ops.

Pros

• Instant liquidity and utility (govern, stake, transact).

• Participation spikes early.

• Zero complexity to explain.

Cons

• Max sell pressure (airdrop farmers, mercenary flows).

• Weak long-term alignment.

• Optics risk if price wobbles out of the gate.

Community airdrops like Arbitrum (ARB) went liquid at claim for recipients, while insiders used vesting, fast decentralization, plus longer alignment for core contributors.

No vesting is more common if the project already has a big, loyal community. The logic is: “We know our base, we trust their behavior, and we want immediate decentralization + engagement.” Arbitrum and Uniswap both implemented 100% liquid on claim community airdrops, as they were confident their ecosystems were sticky enough to handle it.

Yes Vesting

Vesting can either start from a fixed calendar date (e.g., Jan 1, 2026), which works well for pre-agreed contracts, or from the TGE, where the clock starts once tokens officially launch. TGE-based vesting is more common in crypto because it syncs unlocks with the token’s actual lifecycle and market debut.

Linear vesting

Linear vesting streams tokens evenly across the vesting period, either continuously (per second in a smart contract) or in discrete intervals (monthly/quarterly). It’s simple, predictable, and avoids “unlock day shocks,” which is why it’s a default in many tokenomics designs. 

A good example here is Aptos, where the Community and Foundation allocations vest linearly over 120 months (a long, even release), separate from other cohorts. 

Graded vesting:

Graded vesting unlocks in steps, e.g., 10% each quarter for ten quarters, or smaller early tranches that grow over time (front-loaded or back-loaded curves). Teams use this when they want a few meaningful liquidity moments (for marketing, listings, or incentives) without a daily stream. It’s still time-based, just stepped instead of smooth.

When we look at Starknet’s vesting, it follows a graded or stepwise model. After revising its plan, STRK unlocked around 0.64% of supply each month for the first year, before stepping up to roughly 1.27% per month over the next two years.

Cliff vesting

Cliff vesting with (or without) a linear tail holds back everything until a set date, then releases a big first chunk. After the cliff, many projects switch to linear to avoid another single-day overhang. Cliffs are great for signaling commitment (no instant insider exits), but you should right-size the first drop to avoid one huge sell-pressure event.

Here for example is a hybrid, time-based schedule for community.

Community & Development: 25% unlocked at TGE, then the remaining 75% vests linearly monthly over ~9 months. No cliff → uniform monthly releases (i.e., linear, not graded).

Whereas for airdrops, time-based cliff + linear vesting, 0% at TGE, a 3-month cliff, then monthly linear releases for ~3.8 years (~46 months). That’s classic long-term vesting (not graded, not hybrid), used to curb dump pressure and filter for stickier holders.

So the community allocations here use TGE-based starts with monthly linear vesting; only the airdrop layer adds a cliff + linear combo.

At the end of the day, vesting isn’t just tokenomics math, it’s pretty much social engineering as well. The way a project unlocks supply tells you everything about what kind of community it’s trying to build and how confident it is in its future

If you got this far you’re probably interested in getting that bag soooo check out cookie.fun for all live Cookie Snaps and ACM campaigns and get to snapping

TL;DR

Anyways this took some time to write. Can you read all of it, please? Thank you.

Got questions? Feedback? You know where to find us 📞—we’re here to help you get organized, even if we’re still figuring out our own lives.

Until next lesson,

stay cookish. 🍪