Chainlink (LINK)
Unlock Schedule
Chainlink (LINK) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule
The chart shows gross modeled releases of every allocation: vesting unlocks, new issuance and reserve distributions, each allocation counted once. These have different meanings; a scheduled release is not evidence that tokens entered circulation or were sold. Review the coverage, sources and assumptions below.
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
What LINK does
LINK has a maximum supply of one billion tokens. It was first issued on Ethereum as an ERC-677 token, which extends the familiar ERC-20 token standard. LINK also circulates on other supported networks. Its main roles are paying for Chainlink services, compensating service providers, and supporting parts of the network’s security system. (chain.link)
A customer does not always have to hand over LINK directly. Chainlink’s Payment Abstraction system allows some service fees to be paid in other digital assets or through offchain payment arrangements, then converted into LINK. The Chainlink Reserve, introduced in 2025, holds LINK acquired through this approach using revenue from onchain services and enterprise use. This connects some forms of service payment to the token even when the customer starts with another payment method. (chain.link)
Chainlink Staking lets eligible node operators and community members commit LINK to support certain oracle services. In the v0.2 system, community members can help monitor a covered service, while node operators may lose some staked LINK if specified performance conditions are met. Staking therefore serves a different purpose from using tokens to pay a bill: it ties an economic commitment to the quality of a service. (chain.link)
Assumptions
All one billion LINK tokens were created when the token contract was deployed in September 2017; the 2017 sale distributed 350 million of them. Another 350 million was earmarked for node operators and community initiatives, and 300 million for the team and development, but the cited sources do not provide complete dated spending schedules for those reserves. Chainlink also pays staking rewards using existing LINK, without a published total reward budget or complete payout history. The chart can show the genesis issuance and the sale in their supported periods; it should not present the undated reserve spending or staking payments as measured monthly releases.
- Node-operator and community reserve: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
- Team and development reserve: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
- Chainlink staking rewards from existing LINK: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
- 1. https://etherscan.io/txs?a=0x514910771af9ca656af840dff83e8264ecf986ca&f=5
- 2. https://github.com/smartcontractkit/LinkToken
- 3. https://github.com/smartcontractkit/LinkToken/blob/master/contracts/v0.4/LinkToken.sol
- 4. https://supply.chain.link/supply
- 5. https://chain.link/circulating-supply
- 6. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2082889/000119312526117419/clnk-20251231.htm
- 7. https://chain.link/economics/staking
- 8. https://chain.link/blog/chainlink-staking-v0-2-overview
Allocations
Parts of this allocation with their own release dates are charted as their own allocations; the chart shows the rest here.
Not yet scheduled: 233,150,029.575 tokens of its parts have no release date yet. The chart shows them as TBD from today, not as unlocked.
Description
#14
Chainlink is a network of decentralized oracles that connects smart contracts with data and services from the real world. It allows smart contracts to access any API, event, payment, or computation while maintaining security and reliability.
| Sector: | Oracles |
| Blockchain: | Ethereum |