Vesting: How Token Release Schedules Work

Vesting in crypto is a schedule that releases tokens over time, in parts instead of in one step. To release a token’s units is to make them available to move. A token is a unit issued on an existing blockchain through a smart contract.

A blockchain is a shared record to which new entries are added one after another. A transaction is a request that a user signs and sends to a blockchain. A smart contract is a program on a blockchain that runs its code when a transaction calls it.

What Does a Token Vesting Schedule Set?

In cryptocurrency, a token vesting schedule sets when units of a token become available to move. A schedule releases units in parts over time when the amount available to move depends on the time that has passed.

A token standard is a published specification of how a token’s smart contract is called. One token standard for Ethereum describes a vesting schedule by its start time, its end time, and the amount that can be claimed at a given time. The standard leaves the details of how the amount changes over time to each contract that follows it.

A vesting schedule describes a rule for when units become available to move. It does not describe how any token fares.

How Can a Smart Contract Handle a Release Schedule?

A function is a named piece of a contract’s code that runs when a transaction calls it. One token standard for Ethereum describes the functions of smart contracts that track a vesting schedule. In a contract that follows the standard, one function reports the amount that can be claimed at a given time, and a transaction calls a claim function to claim that amount.

A cliff is a period at the start of a schedule in which no units can be claimed. The same token standard says that the function that reports the claimable amount can report zero until a set time has passed, which allows for a cliff.

Who Sets a Token Release Schedule?

In a smart contract that tracks a schedule, the contract’s code determines what the schedule does. The terms of a schedule come from whoever writes and deploys that contract. Token rules, including any schedule written in a contract, can differ from one token to another.

What Does Developer Documentation Say about Replacing a Smart Contract’s Behavior?

As of October 2025, developer documentation describes smart contracts built so that the behavior they run can be replaced by an entity with access to upgrade functions. The documentation page on upgrading smart contracts does not mention vesting, so it does not describe whether a release schedule can change.

How Does Vesting Compare with a Token Lock?

Vesting is a schedule that releases the units of a token in parts over time, while a token lock is a rule that keeps units from moving for a set period.

How Current Is the Description of Vesting?

As of October 2026, the descriptions of how a smart contract runs its code, of the claim function, and of the cliff are current. The page on upgrading smart contracts is dated October 2025, and the page for the token standard was checked in October 2026.

The definitions in plain words, such as those of vesting, release, token, blockchain, token standard, transaction, cliff, and token lock, the explanation of releasing units in parts, the difference between vesting and a token lock, and the summary of who sets a schedule are written for the Crypto Glossary and are not quotations. No neutral glossary text that was checked defines vesting for tokens, so the definition of vesting is plain-language wording. Token rules and the documentation about them can change.