Extend a lock.
Unlock dates move in one direction. You can always push a lock further out, never pull it in, and the contract is what enforces that rather than a policy.
Why it only moves one way#
extend requires the new timestamp to be strictly greater than the current one. There is
no function that shortens a lock, so a team cannot quietly bring a date forward when it becomes
inconvenient, and nobody has to take their word for it.
That is what makes an unlock date meaningful as a commitment rather than a preference. See the contract reference for the exact check.
Extend it#
- Open My locks. Go to the lock page with the wallet that owns the lock. My locks is the table below the lock form.
- Find the lock and choose Extend.
- Pick a later date. Choose a date, or tap +1M, +3M, +6M or +1Y, which count from the current unlock date. A date that is not after the current unlock time is rejected before your wallet opens.
- Confirm with Extend lock. One transaction, and you only pay gas. Extending is free.
The proof page shows the new date as soon as the transaction confirms. Anyone holding the old link sees it the next time they open it, so there is nothing to re-share. Link previews on social sites can take a few minutes to catch up.
The strategy worth understanding#
Most teams set one long lock at launch and never touch it. Extending repeatedly is the better play, and the reason is about evidence rather than mechanics.
| Approach | What a reader sees |
|---|---|
| One 12-month lock set at launch | A decision made once, before anything was proven |
| A 3-month lock extended three times | A team that kept choosing to stay, on the record, after each milestone |
The second costs the same, because extending is free, and it produces a history rather than a single data point. It also avoids the trap of a long lock set optimistically at launch that the team later resents.
How long should you lock liquidity works through choosing the first duration.
Before the date arrives#
An unlock date that passes without comment is read as a countdown that ended. If you intend to stay locked, extend before it expires, not after. A lock that lapses for a week is a different fact from one that never lapsed, and holders who are watching will notice which one happened.
If the date has already passed but you have not withdrawn, you can still extend the same lock. The app offers exactly that, so there is no need to create a new one, but the lapse still happened.
Nothing happens automatically at expiry. See when a lock expires.
What extending does not change#
- The amount. To lock more, create a second lock. Locks are independent records.
- The owner. Ownership transfers separately, and the tokens stay where they are.
- Vesting schedules. Those are irrevocable and have no extend function. Their dates are fixed at creation.