CoW Protocol (COW) Tokenomics, Unlock Schedule and Vesting Chart

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CoW Protocol (COW) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule

As of October 21, 2026, 574.49 million COW have been released. The remaining 41.03 million COW are worth about $5.59 million at today's price (7.16% of the market cap). Of these, 11.81 million COW release over the next 12 months, from CIP-83 base team grant replenishment. Today's release is 34,223 COW from CIP-83 base team grant replenishment. COW is fully unlocked in February 2030; after that date the schedule has no further dated releases.

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

Supply and distribution

One billion COW tokens were issued at the token generation event. The initial allocation set aside 44.4% for the CoW DAO treasury, 15% for the team, and 10% for GnosisDAO. A community airdrop, a community investment option, and an investment round each received 10%; advisers received the remaining 0.6%. These categories show how the launch aimed to fund development while giving early users and supporters a place in the project. (docs.cow.fi)

Some early recipients received vCOW, a vesting token convertible into COW at a one-to-one rate as it unlocked. Its schedule spread those releases over four years. The COW contract also permits DAO-controlled inflation, capped at 3% per year, with at least 365 days between inflation events. Thus, the initial one-billion-token issuance and the contract’s inflation rules are separate parts of the economic model. (docs.cow.fi)

Governance and incentives

COW’s main role is governance. Holders can vote or delegate their voting power on proposals concerning the DAO. The treasury supports activities such as development, grants, and ecosystem growth. COW has also been used in solver incentives and bonds, which put tokens behind solver participation. The protocol’s trade fees depend on the order and its execution; they are built into settlement rather than requiring every trader to hold COW. (docs.cow.fi)

Upcoming COW Releases

Period	Allocation	Type	Amount	Value
Oct 21 – 31, 2026	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	376.5K	$51.3K
Nov 2026	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	1M	$139.8K
Dec 2026	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	1.1M	$144.5K
Jan 2027	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	1.1M	$144.5K
Feb 2027	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	958.2K	$130.5K
Mar 2027	CIP-83 base team grant replenishment	Distribution, researched	1.1M	$144.5K
Total, next 12 months			11.8M	$1.6M

1–6 of 12 releases

of 2 pages

Values at $0.136 per COW (October 21, 2026), today's price, not a forecast. Releases continue after September 2027. Releases without dates are listed under Allocations.

Assumptions

CoW Protocol issued one billion COW at launch, divided among the DAO treasury, team, GnosisDAO, the airdrop, investment rounds and advisors. Published four-year terms support several historical vesting lines, while a newer 50-million-COW team-pool stream runs from February 2026 to February 2030 and a 25-million-COW performance award was transferred in May 2026. Treasury programs, unexercised options, grant payments and the remaining performance awards have budgets but not complete recipient-payment dates. The chart can show the dated mint, claim opening, modeled historical vesting, team-pool stream and documented milestone transfer; it should not display undated budgets as if they had already entered recipients’ hands.

Initial CoW DAO treasury allocation: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
GnosisDAO share intended for GNO lockers: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
CoWmunity investment options: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
CIP-4 protocol liquidity-provider incentives: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
CIP-62 product development: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-62 defense reserve completion: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-62 liquidity provision: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-62 solver reward allowance: New issuance depends on network activity, such as staking, so it cannot be dated in advance.
CIP-62 strategic partnerships: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-62 other initiatives: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-47 exchange-listing allowance: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
CIP-63 general grants: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
CIP-63 volume incentives: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
CIP-82 renewed 2026 grants budget: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
Individual grants from the CIP-83 base team pool: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
CIP-83 performance-linked team allocation: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
ShapeShift integration grant: documented COW milestones: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.

Sources (15)

Total Supply N/A

Unlocked Supply 574.49M

Unlock Progress —

Genesis Date Feb 11, 2022

Fully Unlocked February 2030

Allocations 27

Marketcap Rank (#) 325

Price ($) 0.137 -4.47% (7d)

24h Volume ($) 132K -37.63% (7d)

Marketcap ($) 78M

Fully Diluted Value ($) 137M

Circulating Supply 57% MEDIUM

Perpetuals: 1 market on Binance · $1.4M open interest

Spot

Perp


COW/USDT	136K	52K/53K
COW/USDT	55K	24K/25K
COW/USD	24K	40K/48K
COW/TRY	21K	6.4K/7.7K
COW/USDT	13K	35K/34K
COW/USDC	9.9K	16K/17K
COW/USDT	7K	41K/37K
COW/USDT	4.7K	12K/15K
COW/WETH	3.1K	6.8K/6.7K
COW/USDT	2.3K	330/1.1K
COW/USD	1.8K	2K/5.5K
COW/EUR	1.8K	6.8K/12K
COW/WETH	369	1.1K/1.1K
COW/USDT	172	36/35

Allocations

Initial COW mint TBD

1,000,000,000 tokens · 7 parts

Parts of this allocation with their own release dates are charted as their own allocations; the chart shows the rest here.

Not yet scheduled: 384,478,292.324 tokens of its parts have no release date yet. The chart shows them as TBD from today, not as unlocked.

Cliff: Feb 11, 2022 — 100.00% of allocation · 1,000,000,000 tokens

Sources: Token: supply, inflation schedule and initial distributionCoW Protocol Token contracts and distributionCoW Protocol Token Transparency Filing

ShapeShift integration grant: documented COW milestones

400,000 tokens

Timing not yet established (… - Dec 31, 2023): 400,000 tokens

Sources: Grant Application: CowSwap–ShapeShift Integration

Last Updated: 2026-10-08 15:25:50 UTC

Description

#325

Cow Protocol is a platform that allows users to trade tokens with low fees and high liquidity. Users can also find Coincidences of Wants (CoWs), which are pairs of orders that match each other without intermediaries.

Sector:	DEX
Blockchain:	Ethereum

2022