Token allocation benchmarks that hold up.
There's no rule about how to split a token supply, but there are conventions, and being far outside them is something people notice immediately. Here's what's normal, and what each number is signalling.
The typical split
| Bucket | Common range | Usual treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Community & ecosystem | 25–40% | Distributed over time |
| Core team & founders | 15–20% | Vested, 12-month cliff |
| Early investors | 10–20% | Vested, 6–12 month cliff |
| Public sale | 10–20% | Liquid at launch |
| Liquidity | 5–10% | Locked or burned |
| Advisors | 2–5% | Vested, 3–6 month cliff |
These overlap and won't all sit at the top of their range in the same project — the point is the shape, not the exact figures.
What gets a project dismissed
- Team above 25% with no vesting. The single most common reason a launch is written off.
- Liquidity under 5% and unlocked. Thin and withdrawable is the worst combination.
- A "treasury" nobody can distinguish from a team wallet. If it isn't locked and isn't governed, it reads as team supply under another name.
- Everything liquid at launch. A distribution with no vesting anywhere means the entire supply can hit the market on day one.
The vesting terms that go with each
Percentages alone don't tell holders much — 18% to the team is reassuring on a four-year vest and alarming with no cliff. The convention that carried over from startup equity is four years total with a twelve-month cliff, and it remains the reference point people measure against for core team allocations.
Advisors are usually shorter, because the contribution is shorter: three to six month cliffs over twelve to twenty-four months. Investors sit between the two, and their terms are typically negotiated rather than chosen. How cliffs work in practice.
Why this is the one thing you can't fix later
Vesting is among the very few tokenomics parameters that can't be adjusted after launch. Schedules created on HoodLock are irrevocable. No cancel, no pause, no clawback, and that's exactly what makes them worth anything to holders. The consequence is that a schedule set wrong stays wrong: too short and you bleed supply into the market continuously, too concentrated and you create a cliff day that everyone can see coming and trade against.
Spend the time on this before you deploy. It's cheaper than any other decision to get right and the most expensive to get wrong.
Publishing it
An allocation table on a website is a claim. The same allocation sitting in vesting contracts with public proof pages is a fact, and it shows up in the token's holder distribution as contracts rather than wallets, which is exactly what people check. Publishing the proof links alongside the table is what turns one into the other.
Common questions
What percentage of tokens should the team get?
15–20% is the common range for core team and founders. Above 25% draws scrutiny, and above that with no vesting is the most frequent reason a launch gets dismissed outright.
What is the standard vesting schedule for team tokens?
Four years total with a twelve-month cliff, inherited from startup equity conventions. Advisors typically get shorter terms — three to six month cliffs over twelve to twenty-four months.
How much supply should go to liquidity?
Commonly 5–10%, locked or burned. The percentage matters less than whether it is withdrawable: thin liquidity that can also be pulled is the worst combination for holders.
Can I change a vesting schedule after launch?
No. Schedules on HoodLock are irrevocable. There is no cancel, pause or clawback. That permanence is what makes them credible, and it is why the numbers need to be right before you deploy.
Keep reading
- Check a token now with the vesting checker
- Locking dev tokens after a Pons launch
- How to set up token vesting
- Circulating vs total supply
- Locking treasury and ecosystem funds
- Locking tokens launched on Lemon.fun
- How HoodLock vesting works
Put the allocation where people can see it
Irrevocable vesting schedules with public proof pages, 0.005 ETH each.
Create a schedule →