Theta Network (THETA)
Unlock Schedule
Theta Network (THETA) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule
The unlock chart above provides a clear visual overview of the Theta Network (THETA) 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 THETA 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
Dual-token model: THETA and TFUEL
- THETA token: fixed supply of 1 billion; used for staking as a Validator or Guardian and for protocol governance. By staking THETA and running nodes, participants share in newly generated TFUEL. (docs.thetatoken.org)
- TFUEL: the operational token for gas fees, smart contracts and payments to Edge Nodes for compute and delivery jobs. TFUEL powers on‑chain actions and EdgeCloud payments. (docs.thetatoken.org)
Staking and rewards
To run your own Guardian Node, you stake at least 1,000 THETA. Staking THETA helps secure the network’s multi‑level BFT consensus and earns a share of newly minted TFUEL. Elite Edge Node operators stake TFUEL and can earn dual rewards: protocol‑level TFUEL via uptime mining, plus additional rewards from relaying services verified by Proof‑of‑Relay. (docs.thetatoken.org)
Fees, burning and supply
Mainnet 3.0 introduced TFUEL burning: at least 25% of each TFUEL payment to the edge network is burned at the protocol level, and transaction and gas fees also vanish rather than being paid to validators, creating permanent sinks for TFUEL. TFUEL also includes inflation components (5% for validators/guardians, plus 2–4% for uptime mining) that can be balanced over time by protocol‑level burning. THETA’s supply is fixed and non‑inflationary. (s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com)
Assumptions
- THETA has a fixed supply of 1,000,000,000 with no ongoing issuance; staking THETA earns TFUEL, not THETA.
Confirmed by official docs and 2018 whitepaper detailing dual-token model (THETA fixed, TFUEL inflationary).
- Private sale tokens are modeled as linearly released over the sale window (2017-09-26 to 2017-12-27).
Sale dates are known; Binance Research indicates no lock-up, but exact distribution cadence not disclosed.
- Team tokens unlocked Jan 2019 as a single cliff.
Binance Research explicitly states team allocation unlocked in January 2019; conflicting third-party notes (e.g., July 2018) exist; we adopt Binance as more authoritative.
- Partners and Advisors allocations assumed to have no formal lock-up and become circulating around the ERC-20 ICO start date (2018-01-04).
Binance Research lists these categories without lock-ups; exact token transfer dates not published.
- Network Seeding modeled as linear from 2018-02-05 through 2020-12-31.
Theta executed community airdrops starting Feb 5, 2018; no comprehensive vesting calendar disclosed. Linear modeling provides a reasonable monthly schedule for visualization.
- Labs Reserves modeled as unlocked in Jan 2019 (cliff).
Secondary research (Paradigm) indicates Jan 2019 unlock; Binance Research confirms the reserve size but not the date. Treated as entering circulating supply at lock expiry though governance control remains with Theta Labs.
- Genesis date set to 2017-09-26 (start of private sale).
Tokens existed as ERC-20 in late 2017/early 2018; Etherscan lists ICO start Jan 4, 2018. We choose the sale start as the earliest supply-release reference point for charting.
- 1. https://docs.thetatoken.org/docs/what-is-theta-network
- 2. https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/assets.thetatoken.org/Theta-white-paper-latest.pdf
- 3. https://www.binance.com/en/research/projects/theta-network
- 4. https://medium.com/theta-network/theta-airdrop-announcement-f9962e53e3e
- 5. https://medium.com/theta-network/theta-mainnet-launch-one-week-to-go-41ad1efe7b2c
- 6. https://medium.com/theta-network/theta-network-mainnet-launch-and-token-swap-faqs-9a4bca3fb57d
- 7. https://etherscan.io/token/0x3883f5e181fccaF8410FA61e12b59BAd963fb645
- 8. https://medium.com/paradigm-research/theta-blockchain-powered-video-streaming-with-microeconomy-49536b4ffb10