// GLOSSARY
Tokenomics & fundraising
How token supply, vesting and early-stage fundraising instruments work.
Airdrop
An airdrop is a distribution of free tokens to selected wallets, usually to reward early users of a product, seed a community or promote a launch, with the tokens arriving directly in recipients' wallets.
Circulating Supply
Circulating supply is the number of tokens that are liquid and available to the market right now — excluding locked, vested-not-yet-released, burned and treasury-held tokens.
Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV)
Fully diluted valuation is the token's current price multiplied by its maximum total supply — the value the project would have if every token that can ever exist were trading at today's price.
Lockup Period
A lockup period is a fixed window during which tokens that a holder already owns cannot be sold or transferred, typically applied after an airdrop, listing or delivery to limit immediate selling pressure.
SAFE
A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) is a short funding contract where an investor provides capital now in exchange for the right to receive equity in a future priced financing round, at terms fixed today.
SAFT
A SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) is a contract where an investor funds a project today in exchange for tokens the project will deliver once its network launches — before the token exists.
Token Generation Event (TGE)
A token generation event is the moment a project's tokens are first created and distributed on a blockchain — the technical birth of the token, usually paired with the start of vesting schedules and initial liquidity.
Token Unlock
A token unlock is the moment a batch of previously locked tokens becomes transferable — a cliff ending, a monthly vesting release or a lockup expiring — adding potential sell-side supply to the market.
Token Vesting
Token vesting is a schedule that releases allocated tokens to their holders gradually over time instead of all at once, typically used for teams, investors and advisors to align incentives and limit sudden selling.
Token Warrant
A token warrant is an agreement attached to an equity investment that gives the investor the right to receive tokens — typically in proportion to their equity stake — if and when the company launches a token.
Tokenomics
Tokenomics is the design of a token's economy: total supply, distribution, vesting, inflation or burn mechanics and what the token is used for. It determines how supply and demand for the token behave over time.
Vesting Cliff
A vesting cliff is an initial period after the token generation event during which nothing vests. If the holder leaves or the tokens are forfeited before the cliff ends, none of the allocation vests.