ApeX (APEX)
Unlock Schedule
ApeX (APEX) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule
The unlock chart above provides a clear visual overview of the ApeX (APEX) token release schedule, showing when and how tokens enter circulation across investor, team, treasury, and community allocations. Understanding these tokenomics dynamics is critical for evaluating potential supply pressure, inflation impact, and market liquidity over time — key factors that can influence APEX price performance.
Each color segment in the chart corresponds to a specific allocation group described in the Allocations section below. Underlying assumptions and data models used to reconstruct this schedule are explained in detail under Assumptions, while broader utility insights and token use cases are covered in Tokenomics & Utility.
Tokenomics & Utility
The APEX token is a governance and incentive asset for the protocol. In early 2024, ApeX announced a plan to reduce total supply from 1,000,000,000 to 500,000,000 through quarterly burns, which the team has since executed. Updated “ApeX tokenomics” materials confirm the post‑burn max supply of 500M, with a distribution structure balancing investor/team allocations and community/DAO incentives. (apex.exchange)
Key points at a glance:
- Max supply: 500,000,000 APEX after the 2024 burn program. (apex.exchange)
- Allocation: roughly 23% to core team and early investors (with cliff and vesting), 77% to participation rewards, ecosystem building, and liquidity bootstrapping. (apex.exchange)
- Investors named by ApeX include Dragonfly Capital, Jump, Tiger Global, Mirana Ventures, Kronos, M77 Ventures, CyberX, and Cobo. (apex.exchange)
ApeX’s staking design uses two companion assets—esAPEX (escrowed APEX) and veAPEX (vote‑escrow)—to reward long‑term participation. Users stake APEX/esAPEX to earn esAPEX and receive veAPEX, which grants governance rights and a share of protocol revenue. Earlier programs paid fee shares in ETH or USDC; beginning in February 2025 the protocol shifted to APEX‑denominated rewards alongside a buyback mechanism, tying staking yield more directly to token demand and platform activity. (apex.exchange)
In addition to staking, ApeX has deployed liquidity initiatives like APEX‑ETH pools on third‑party DEXs (for example, Camelot on Arbitrum), with joint rewards to deepen market liquidity. These initiatives form part of the broader strategy to support APEX, the protocol’s fee engine, and governance participation. (apex.exchange)
Assumptions
- Genesis date set to 2022-04-29 for vesting references.
Official vesting update references a 2022-04-29 start; Bybit Launchpad trading commenced 2022-04-27 but vesting communications use April 29.
- Team vs. Investor split within 23% bucket: Investors 72M; Team inferred 43M.
Official update gives investors = 72,000,000; total team+investors = 23% of 500M; thus team = 43,000,000 by difference.
- OG and Predator NFT vesting duration modeled as 24 months linear after a 6-month post-TGE lock.
Blog states 6-month lock then monthly vest without explicit end; assume standard 24-month linear vest for full allocation; esAPEX intermediary adds a 6-month conversion to APEX but modeled as equivalent monthly APEX release.
- Bybit Launchpad allocation = 10M APEX at TGE.
Official Launchpad article specifies 10,000,000 APEX; an infographic showing 20M appears inconsistent and is treated as outdated/mislabeled.
- Treasury Airdrops & Grants (150M) modeled as linear from 2025-07-16 to 2027-12-31.
Official plan earmarks 175M through 2027 with 25M for the XP campaign (Jan–Jul 2025); remaining 150M lacks tranche dates, so uniform monthly schedule is assumed.
- DAO Treasury residual (87M) unlocks at 36 months post-TGE via a single cliff.
Docs state DAO tokens locked 36 months; specific sub-allocations within the residual are not publicly scheduled.
- 1. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/apex-token-supply-distribution
- 2. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/APEX-Tokenomics-Revamp
- 3. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/esAPEX12-Program-Update-Here-is-What-is-Next
- 4. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/updates-to-apex-token-unlock-schedule
- 5. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/apex-protocol-is-coming-to-bybit-launchpad-2-0
- 6. https://discourse.bitdao.io/t/passed-bip-17-apex-and-bitdao-proposal/4331
- 7. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/11/15/2555632/0/en/ApeX-Pro-to-Launch-on-Mainnet-With-Year-Long-Trade-to-Earn-Rewards.html
- 8. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/Trade-to-Earn-Round2
- 9. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/Trade-to-Earn-Now-LIVE-on-Omni-Earn-Bi-Weekly-Rewards-in-BANANA
- 10. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/XP-is-Here-Retroactive-Airdrop-25M-APEX-from-the-175M-Treasury-Plan
- 11. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/The-XP-Endgame-Your-Final-Shot-at-25M-APEX
- 12. https://www.apex.exchange/blog/detail/vesting-esapex-for-apex
Allocations
Description
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ApeX Pro is a decentralized, non-custodial trading platform focusing on providing limitless cross-margined perpetual contracts within a social trading framework, targeting a wide metacommunity. It combines an order book model for perpetual swaps with a commitment to speed, efficiency, security, and transparency regarding traders' assets.
| Sector: | Perpetuals |
| Blockchain: | Other L2 |