Zilliqa (ZIL)
Unlock Schedule
Zilliqa (ZIL) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule
The unlock chart above provides a clear visual overview of the Zilliqa (ZIL) 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 ZIL 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
ZIL has several direct jobs on the network. It pays the fees required to send tokens and run smart contracts. Validators stake it to participate in consensus, while other holders can delegate their tokens and receive a share of staking rewards. These roles connect demand for ZIL to network activity and to participation in securing the chain. (zilliqa.com)
The original token generation plan set a limit of 21 billion ZIL. It allocated 40% for network rewards, up to 30% for early and community contributors, and the remaining 30% among Anquan Capital, Zilliqa Research, the team, agencies, and advisers. Those figures describe the initial allocation plan; rewards now operate within the upgraded proof-of-stake system. Zilliqa has also discussed balancing new rewards against tokens removed through transaction-fee burning. (blog.zilliqa.com)
Governance has a separate token, gZIL, which was introduced alongside Zilliqa’s earlier staking program. ZIL’s main network roles remain paying fees and supporting staking. Keeping the two tokens distinct makes it easier to understand why a ZIL balance alone does not describe every form of participation in the ecosystem. (blog.zilliqa.com)
Assumptions
- Group 3 (Anquan, Zilliqa Research, Team, Advisors) originally vests quarterly over 3 years; modeled as linear monthly for charting.
Primary source specifies quarterly distribution but schema and visualization require monthly granularity; total tokens and dates preserved.
- Early & Community tokens unlock date set to 2018-01-26 (TGE conclusion).
Official communications place TGE conclusion on 2018-01-26; tokens were transferable around that time. Minor uncertainty exists around exact exchange listing timing versus TGE timestamp.
- Protocol rewards modeled as a single allocation with three linear periods reflecting issuance policy changes.
Whitepaper targets a 10-year decreasing schedule; governance later implemented a concrete reduction path starting 2022-01-31. We use ~1.89B ZIL/yr before, linear reduction to ~0.498B ZIL/yr by 2024-01-31, then constant until the 8.4B pool is exhausted.
- Exhaustion of the 8.4B protocol-rewards pool by 2024-09 is approximated.
Calculated from annualized rates given in governance posts; exact end month depends on realized DS-epoch intervals. Modeled to ensure totals match 8.4B.
- Unswapped ERC‑20 interim ZIL (~213.27M) were frozen and are effectively non-circulating.
Post-swap report states 98.3% of 12.6B interim tokens swapped; remaining tokens are defunct. Allocation totals remain per TGE; this does not change max supply.
- Staking rewards come from the same protocol reward pool as mining and do not increase total supply beyond 21B.
Governance and blog posts clarify both mining and staking rewards draw from unallocated ZIL; 2024 staking APR adjustments affect distribution, not total issuance.
- 1. https://blog.zilliqa.com/more-details-on-zilliqas-token-generation-event-4e1b78e0cf5a/
- 2. https://docs.zilliqa.com/whitepaper.pdf
- 3. https://blog.zilliqa.com/zilliqa-project-update-89f77583419/
- 4. https://blog.zilliqa.com/zilliqa-successfully-wraps-up-token-swap-f8942e1ce743/
- 5. https://gov.zilliqa.com/t/zilliqa-incentive-layer/1017
- 6. https://blog.zilliqa.com/road-to-zilliqa-2-0-adjusting-staking-rewards-for-long-term-sustainability/
- 7. https://blog.zilliqa.com/zilliqa-staking-rewards-adjusted-to-reduce-inflation/
Allocations
Description
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Zilliqa is a high-performance blockchain platform that uses sharding technology to achieve scalability, security, and sustainability. Zilliqa supports smart contracts written in Scilla, a functional programming language designed for safety and verifiability.
| Sector: | Layer 1 |
| Blockchain: | Other L1 |