zkSync (ZK) Tokenomics, Unlock Schedule and Vesting Chart

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zkSync (ZK) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule

As of October 16, 2026, 9.94 billion of the 21 billion ZK (47.36%) have been released. The schedule is ongoing, with no final release date. Over the next 12 months it releases 4.28 billion ZK (all estimated) mostly from ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply and Investors and advisors — approximately 19.78% of maximum supply, worth about $72.89 million at today's price (39.59% of the market cap). Today's release is an estimated 179.97 million ZK from Investors and advisors — approximately 19.78% of maximum supply, Matter Labs team — approximately 13.55% of maximum supply, Token Assembly governance allocation — approximately 29.27% of maximum supply and ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply.

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

ZK has a maximum supply of 21 billion tokens. The published allocation assigns 29.3% to ZKsync governance, 19.9% to the ZKsync Foundation, 17.5% to an airdrop, and 33.3% to investors, advisers, and the team. The airdropped share was unlocked for recipients. Team and investor allocations follow a longer release schedule, so the full allocation was not made available at once. (zksync.io)

Governance is the token’s central use. Holders can delegate voting power or participate in decisions on upgrades and network parameters. The system has three parts: a Token Assembly representing token holders, a Security Council that reviews technical changes, and Guardians with a safeguard role. This structure separates voting from technical and emergency duties. (zknation.io)

On ZKsync Era, ETH is the standard fee currency. Apps can use paymasters—special accounts that cover a user’s fee or arrange payment with another supported token. Separately, the project has described a possible future role for ZK as a gas token in its Gateway settlement architecture. Bringing that design into production would require a governance decision and further implementation. These distinct roles help explain why using an Era app does not automatically require ZK. (docs.zksync.io)

Upcoming ZK Releases

Period	Allocation	Type	Amount	Value	% of supply
Oct 16 – 31, 2026	ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply	Issuance, estimated	74.2M	$1.3M	0.35%
	Investors and advisors — approximately 19.78% of maximum supply	Vesting, estimated	53.1M	$904.8K	0.25%
	Matter Labs team — approximately 13.55% of maximum supply	Vesting, estimated	36.4M	$619.7K	0.17%
	Token Assembly governance allocation — approximately 29.27% of maximum supply	Issuance, estimated	30.1M	$513.1K	0.14%
Nov 2026	ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply	Issuance, estimated	139.1M	$2.4M	0.66%
Nov 2026	Investors and advisors — approximately 19.78% of maximum supply	Vesting, estimated	102.9M	$1.8M	0.49%
Total, next 12 months			4.3B	$72.9M	20.38%

1–6 of 48 releases

of 8 pages

Values at $0.017 per ZK (October 16, 2026), today's price, not a forecast. Releases continue after September 2027. Estimated amounts are modeled from the schedule's rules rather than dated by a source; see the Assumptions below. Releases without dates are listed under Allocations.

Assumptions

ZK has a documented 21-billion-token maximum, but Foundation and governance allocations use capped minters rather than a fixed mint calendar. The chart shows airdrop claim availability, modeled team and investor unlocks, the April 2025 incident mint, and estimated minting between the limited Foundation and Token Assembly observations. Most grant and program budgets still lack verified payment dates, and the Foundation's requested historical checkpoints could not all be established. Coinbase reports 15,359,021,379 tokens of total supply, but incomplete mint records and an unknown cumulative burn amount prevent the dated chart from reconciling to that figure.

Airdrop — 17.5% of maximum supply: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
Token Assembly governance allocation — approximately 29.27% of maximum supply: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
TPP-1 Ignite liquidity incentives and administration: The original schedule was changed and the new timing is not yet published.
TPP-3: 2025 ZIP audit reimbursements: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
TPP-5: Security Council bridge funding: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
TPP-6: Security Council 2025–2026 funding: New issuance depends on network activity, such as staking, so it cannot be dated in advance.
TPP-7: Guardians compensation and operations: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-8: Community Activation Pilot: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-8: Community RFP Pilot: The original schedule was changed and the new timing is not yet published.
GAP-6: ZKnomist reallocation of remaining TPP-8 funds: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-9: Prividium deployment prizes: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-10: Prividium Roadshow: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
TPP-11: Governance infrastructure: New issuance depends on network activity, such as staking, so it cannot be dated in advance.
TPP-12: ZK token-staking pilot: New issuance depends on network activity, such as staking, so it cannot be dated in advance.
TPP-12: ZK token-staking pilot: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-15: ZKsync Association donation: The sources give the amount but no release dates.
TPP-16: 2026 audit reimbursements: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-16: Retroactive 2025 audit reconciliation: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-17: 2026 Immunefi bug bounties: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-17: Reimbursement of 2025 bug bounties: Releases depend on recipients claiming tokens or on grants being awarded.
TPP-18: Protocol and network development: Releases depend on future governance or treasury decisions.
TPP-19: Security Council funding: The sources give the amount but no release dates.

Sources (33)

Max Supply 21.00B

Unlocked Supply 9.94B

Unlock Progress 47.36%

Genesis Date June 2024

Fully Unlocked Ongoing

Allocations 32

Marketcap Rank (#) 196

Price ($) 0.017 +22.51% (7d)

24h Volume ($) 9.5M -15.54% (7d)

Marketcap ($) 184M

Fully Diluted Value ($) 350M

Circulating Supply 52% MEDIUM

Perpetuals: 3 markets on Binance, Hyperliquid and Lighter · $18.2M open interest

Spot

Perp


ZK/USDT	27M	152K/175K
ZK/TRY	12M	31K/48K
ZK/USDT	6.7M	50K/69K
ZK/USDT	6.1M	71K/103K
ZK/USDT	4.2M	108K/118K
ZK/USD	3.8M	76K/90K
ZK/USDC	1.8M	13K/24K
ZK/USDT	1.3M	7.5K/11K
ZK/USDT	894K	10K/13K
ZK/USDC	689K	406/1.8K
ZK/USD	670K	13K/24K
ZK/USDT	551K	119K/240K
ZK/USDT	304K	337/334
ZK/EUR	132K	8.3K/18K
ZK/USDC	90K	4.1K/5.2K
ZK/TRY	71K	20K/21K
ZK/USDC	55K	143K/97K
ZK/EUR	17K	1.3K/1.5K
ZK/WETH	140	1.7K/1.6K

Allocations

Airdrop — 17.5% of maximum supply

3,675,000,000 tokens · 5 parts

Cliff: June 2024 — 100.00% of allocation · 3,675,000,000 tokens

Timing not yet established (June 2024 - January 2025): amount unknown

Sources: ZK AirdropZK Token Claim FAQsIncident Report: Compromised admin key to unclaimed airdrop tokens

Investors and advisors — approximately 19.78% of maximum supply

4,154,642,006 tokens

Cliff: June 2025 — 10.80% of allocation · 448,701,382 tokens

Linear vesting: July 2025 - June 2028 (monthly) · 3,705,940,624 tokens

Sources: ZK Token

Matter Labs team — approximately 13.55% of maximum supply

2,845,357,294 tokens

Cliff: June 2025 — 10.80% of allocation · 307,298,618 tokens

Linear vesting: July 2025 - June 2028 (monthly) · 2,538,058,676 tokens

Sources: ZK TokenZKsync Token Transparency Filing, submitted by ZKsync

ZKsync Foundation ecosystem initiatives — 19.90% of maximum supply

4,179,000,000 tokens

Observed release: 2,500,000,000 tokens

Timing not yet established (June 2024 - open): amount unknown

Estimated from the last observation onward: about 4,638,219 per day (141,175,788 per month), the rate between the observations of 17 June 2024 and 8 December 2025.

Sources: ZKsync Token Transparency Filing, submitted by ZKsyncZKsync Foundation Treasury Report discussionZK Token

Token Assembly governance allocation — approximately 29.27% of maximum supply

6,146,000,700 tokens · 15 parts

Observed release: 328,000,000 tokens

Timing not yet established (June 2024 - open): amount unknown

Estimated from the last observation onward: about 1,883,117 per day (57,317,370 per month), the rate between the observations of 24 March 2026 and 9 June 2026.

Sources: ZKsync Token Transparency Filing, submitted by ZKsyncMatter Labs response on Token Assembly minting, March 24, 20262026 ZKsync Protocol & Network Development Allocation discussionZK Token

TPP-19: Security Council funding

32,714,286 tokens

Timing not yet established (September 2026 - open): amount unknown

Sources: TPP-19: ZKsync Security Council Funding

Last Updated: 2026-10-10 13:22:55 UTC

Description

#196

zkSync is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution utilizing zero-knowledge rollups to enable faster and cheaper transactions while preserving the security and decentralization of the Ethereum network. It leverages zk-rollups to batch multiple transactions off-chain, verifying them with a succinct proof, significantly reducing the computational load and costs on the main Ethereum chain.

Sector:	Layer 2
Blockchain:	Other L2

2024