How to Read a Token Lock-Up Table: A Worked Example

A lock-up table lists allocations, durations and release schedules, and most people read only the durations. The two columns that actually matter are the release schedule — which tells you whether tokens arrive gradually or all at once — and the enforcement method, which tells you whether the schedule is a contract or a promise. A ten-year lock-up enforced by hand is a very different commitment from a two-year lock-up enforced by code.

Major Points Covered

• Three columns: allocation, duration, release schedule. The third matters most.
• "Immediate" release means those tokens are sellable from day one.
• Cliff releases concentrate supply; linear releases spread it.
• Enforcement method — on-chain or manual — is usually not in the table at all.
• Map every unlock date against the roadmap before participating.

Direct Answers to Common Questions

A token lock-up table shows how much of each allocation is restricted from sale and for how long. Read it in three steps. First, find every row marked "immediate" or "none" — those tokens can be sold from launch and represent day-one supply. Second, read the release schedule column rather than the duration, because a two-year lock releasing everything at once behaves very differently from one releasing monthly. Third, find out whether the schedule is enforced by smart contract or by a manual process, which is frequently not stated in the table.

Understanding the Three Columns

Allocation names the group — presale, team, ecosystem, marketing, airdrops, liquidity, loyalty. Sizes vary enormously and the largest allocation deserves the most attention.

Lock-up period states the duration. This is the column everyone reads and it tells you less than it appears to.

Release schedule states how the tokens emerge when the lock expires. This is the column that determines market impact, and it is routinely skimmed.

Consider two allocations of identical size, both locked for two years. One releases everything on the anniversary. The other releases one twenty-fourth each month from day one. Same duration, entirely different supply pressure.

What "Immediate" Actually Means

Rows marked "immediate", "none" or "no lock-up" are the ones to add up first.

Those tokens can be sold from the moment they exist. If presale, liquidity and marketing allocations are all immediate, that combined figure is your realistic day-one circulating supply.

This is not a red flag by itself. Presale participants who bought at a discount reasonably expect to be able to sell. Liquidity has to be unlocked to function as liquidity.

It is simply the number you need in order to understand opening price pressure, and it is the number most people never total up.

Cliff Versus Linear Release

Two shapes, very different effects.

Cliff release. Nothing, then everything at once. Predictable and concentrated — the market knows the date and typically prices toward it in advance.

Linear release. A steady stream from day one or from the end of a cliff period. Continuous mild supply rather than a single event.

Neither is inherently better. Linear is gentler on price; cliff is easier to plan around. What matters is knowing which you are looking at, and a table saying only "2 years" tells you neither.

The Column That Is Usually Missing

Here is the thing lock-up tables almost never state, and it matters more than anything they do state.

Is the schedule enforced by smart contract, or by a manual process?

A vesting contract cannot change its mind. Tokens are unreachable until a block height passes, and no one — including the team — can accelerate it.

A manual lock-up is a stated intention executed by people. It may be honoured perfectly. It is a different category of assurance.

Both are used legitimately. But a ten-year manual lock-up and a ten-year contract lock-up are not equivalent commitments, and a table listing only "10 years" presents them identically.

How to check: look for the vesting contract address. If a project cannot point you to one, the lock-up is procedural. Some projects state this openly, which is considerably better than leaving you to work it out.

Mapping Unlocks Against the Roadmap

The exercise that turns a table into intelligence.

Write the unlock dates on one line. Write the roadmap milestones on another. Then look at where they collide.

A large unlock before revenue begins is the classic pressure point — supply arriving while the product has not yet started earning.

Unlocks clustering on one date concentrate the effect rather than spreading it.

Team unlocks arriving before delivery milestones invert the incentive the lock-up was designed to create.

None of these guarantees anything. All of them are worth knowing in advance rather than discovering.

Five Checks in Under Ten Minutes

• Total the immediate rows. That is your day-one sellable supply.
• Read the release column, not the duration column.
• Identify cliff versus linear for every locked allocation.
• Find the enforcement method. Contract address or manual process.
• Map the dates against the roadmap and note the collisions.

A Worked Example: BetFi

Applying the method to a published table.

Immediate release: presale (50,000,000), liquidity pool (2,000,000), marketing (12,000,000) and loyalty (864,000,000). Note the loyalty figure — it is the largest allocation by a wide margin, and it is the pool from which profit-share rewards are paid rather than a treasury to be sold.

Locked with linear release: airdrops, 12,000,000 over two years at 500,000 monthly. Team, 24,000,000 over ten years at 2.4 million annually — which is internally consistent arithmetic, a useful sign.

Locked with conditional release: ecosystem, 36,000,000 over three years, subject to project collaborations.

Enforcement: BetFi's whitepaper states this directly under the heading No Vesting Contract, Manual Lock-In Applied. The schedule is enforced off-chain by a manual, phased process rather than by a vesting contract.

That disclosure is the right way round. It means you can apply the fifth check yourself instead of assuming.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a token lock-up table show?

Each allocation, how long it is restricted from sale, and how the tokens are released when that restriction ends. The release schedule matters more than the duration.

What does "immediate release" mean?

Those tokens can be sold from the moment they exist. Totalling every immediate row gives you a realistic figure for day-one circulating supply.

What is the difference between cliff and linear vesting?

A cliff releases everything at once on a date. Linear releases a steady portion over time. Same duration, very different supply pressure.

How do I know if a lock-up is actually enforced?

Look for a vesting contract address. If there is none, the schedule is enforced by a manual process, which is a different kind of assurance from code.

Why map unlocks against a roadmap?

Because a large unlock arriving before the product generates revenue is the classic pressure point. Knowing the collisions in advance is more useful than discovering them.