Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Tokenomics, Unlock Schedule and Vesting Chart

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Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule

As of October 16, 2026, 95.53 million of the 100 million ENS (95.53%) have been released. The schedule is ongoing, with no final release date.

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

How the ENS token governs

ENS is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. The original allocation was 100 million tokens: 25% for an airdrop to eligible .eth registrants, 25% for contributors, ecosystem partners, and community members, and 50% for the DAO treasury. The airdrop was based on a snapshot taken on October 31, 2021. Those figures describe the launch allocation, rather than the amount held by any group today. (basics.ensdao.org)

Each token represents one vote. Holders may delegate their voting power to someone who follows proposals closely. Governance covers matters such as treasury spending and changes to key parts of the protocol. The token contract also permits the DAO to authorize minting of up to 2% of the then-current supply once per year. This rule is part of the token’s economic model when considering how governance power may change over time. (basics.ensdao.org)

Using ENS names and holding ENS tokens are different activities. People register .eth names through the naming system, where registration and renewal fees are paid in ETH under the existing registrar. Those fees go to the ENS treasury. Buying the governance token is a way to participate in DAO decisions, rather than a step required to make a name resolve. (docs.ens.domains)

Assumptions

ENS allocated 25 million tokens to its original holder airdrop, 25 million to contributors and 50 million to its DAO treasury. The chart can show the airdrop becoming claimable and the documented treasury and contributor timelocks; some post-cliff monthly amounts and later two-year grants are estimates rather than observed payments. The DAO has also funded named grants, a Foundation transfer and delegation incentives from existing tokens, while other approved budgets and future recipient payments have no established dates. These overlapping unlock and transfer series must not be summed as if they were new token issuance.

Original ENS Contributor Allocation (25% of original supply): The sources give the amount but no release dates.
Original Future Contributors Reserve (1.25% of total supply): Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
Original Active Discord Users Allocation (0.125% of total supply): Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
Original DAO Community Treasury Allocation (50% of original supply): Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
Protocol Guild Pilot Grant from Returned Airdrop: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
Ecosystem Working Group Q1–Q2 2022 ENS Budget: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
2024 Steward Governance Distribution: Timing not yet established.
2024 Service Provider Governance Grants: Timing not yet established.
2024 Security Council Governance Grants: Timing not yet established.
EP 5.19/5.26 Contributor Governance Distribution: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
EP 5.19/5.26 Contributor Governance Distribution: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
2025 Steward Governance Distribution: Timing not yet established.
ENS Foundation Employee Compensation Transfer: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
2026 Delegation Incentives Pilot: New issuance depends on network activity, such as staking, so it cannot be dated in advance.

Sources (16)

Max Supply 100.00M

Unlocked Supply 95.53M

Unlock Progress 95.53%

Genesis Date November 2021

Fully Unlocked Ongoing

Allocations 14

Marketcap Rank (#) 165

Price ($) 5.68 -8.06% (7d)

24h Volume ($) 526K -18.47% (7d)

Marketcap ($) 244M

Fully Diluted Value ($) 568M

Circulating Supply 42% MEDIUM

Perpetuals: 3 markets on Binance, OKX and Hyperliquid · $8.5M open interest

Spot

Perp


ENS/USDT	1.6M	66K/66K
ENS/USD	557K	23K/42K
ENS/USDT	533K	0.27/1.2K
ENS/USDT	301K	19K/23K
ENS/USDT	111K	5.5K/7.5K
ENS/USDT	91K	33K/37K
ENS/TRY	90K	6.8K/6.8K
ENS/USD	89K	11K/34K
ENS/USDT	85K	35K/28K
ENS/USDC	84K	15K/13K
ENS/USDT	82K	72K/79K
ENS/USDC	80K	4K/4.7K
ENS/USDT	35K	7K/8.6K
ENS/USDC	27K	71K/64K
ENS/EUR	25K	11K/12K
ENS/EUR	13K	2K/5.7K
ENS/ETH	1.2K	384/128
ENS/WETH	558	2.2K/2.2K
ENS/WETH	463	205/205
ENS/USDC	383	156/1.4K
ENS/USDC	268	5.4K/5.4K
ENS/USDC	176	17K/16K
ENS/EUR	4.4	2.3K/2.3K

Allocations

2021 .eth Holder Airdrop (25% of original supply)

25,000,000 tokens · 1 part

Cliff: Nov 8, 2021 — 100.00% of allocation · 25,000,000 tokens

Sources: $ENS Token Allocation (Claiming Opens Nov 8)ENS DAO ContractsENS Public Goods meeting: unclaimed airdrops

Original ENS Contributor Allocation (25% of original supply)

25,000,000 tokens · 2 parts

Cliff: May 4, 2022 — 10.27% of allocation · 2,566,502 tokens

Linear release: May 4, 2022 - Nov 8, 2025 · 17,965,515 tokens

Timing not yet established (November 2021 - open): 4,467,983 tokens

Sources: Brantly's position as TNL's Director of Operations — founder's token-lock explanationsENS airdrop contributors lock-up and vesting scheduleTokenLock.solENS DAO Contracts$ENS Token Allocation (Claiming Opens Nov 8)

Original DAO Community Treasury Allocation (50% of original supply)

50,000,000 tokens · 8 parts

Cliff: Nov 8, 2021 — 10.00% of allocation · 5,000,000 tokens

Cliff: May 4, 2022 — 11.25% of allocation · 5,625,000 tokens

Linear release: May 4, 2022 - Nov 8, 2025 · 39,375,000 tokens

Timing not yet established (November 2021 - open): amount unknown

Sources: $ENS Token Allocation (Claiming Opens Nov 8)ENS DAO ContractsBrantly's position as TNL's Director of Operations — founder's token-lock explanationsTokenLock.solIntroducing the Evolved ENS Foundation

Last Updated: 2026-09-27 18:06:07 UTC

Description

#165

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a decentralized naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to map human-readable names like "alice.eth" to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses, content hashes, or metadata.

Sector:	Identity
Blockchain:	Ethereum

2021