Cumulative vs Non-Cumulative Unlocks
Two ways of plotting the same vesting schedule. A cumulative chart plots supply released to date, so the line only ever rises and each unlock reads as continuation. A non-cumulative chart, which Tokenomist labels the unaccumulative view, plots the amount released in each period, so every cliff appears as its own bar. Switching between them is the difference between measuring total dilution by a date and measuring the size of one event.
TradFi parallel: Like reading total shares outstanding against a quarter by quarter issuance table. Shares outstanding tells you how diluted you are today. The issuance table tells you which quarter did the damage. Both are built from the same corporate actions.
Key Takeaways
- 01Cumulative plots supply released to date. The series only rises, so each unlock reads as continuation rather than as an event
- 02Non-cumulative, Tokenomist's unaccumulative view, plots the amount released per period and is the view required to size a single cliff
- 03The price overlay is designed for the non-cumulative view: toggling cumulative off is what isolates the impact of each individual cliff unlock
- 04Cumulative is the right view for forward dilution comparisons, the register Tokenomist's monthly research is written in: SPEC 28.98%, RED 28.59% and SOLV 28.31% of total supply by September 2026
- 05Bucket size is part of the non-cumulative answer, and the fixed windows differ by surface: All, +1D, +7D, +1M, +6M, +1Y and +4Y on a token's emission view, only 7D, 1M, 6M and 1Y on the Emission Screener
- 06Read the per-period bar against a denominator: Nillion's March 24, 2026 release was 11.45% of total supply but a 37.70% expansion of circulating supply
How It Works
Both views are drawn from one dataset: the vesting schedule. The cumulative view integrates it, showing how much supply has been released from TGE up to any point on the axis. The non-cumulative view differentiates it, showing how much was released inside each bucket on the axis. Tokenomist ships the second as a toggle on the Pro chart and as Simplified Unlocks, described at launch as a visualisation "displaying unlock amount per selected timeframe (day, week, month)", built so that significant unlocks are easy to pick out.
The cumulative view is the right one for forward dilution. It answers how far through its schedule a token is and how much of the supply will have arrived by a given date, which is the question that makes tokens comparable to each other. Tokenomist's monthly unlock research is written almost entirely in this register: by September 2026 SPEC reaches a cumulative unlock of 28.98% of total supply, RED 28.59% and SOLV 28.31%, with the research flagging 20% of total supply released cumulatively as a threshold that "often reshapes long-term valuation dynamics rather than just short-term volatility". The same view exposes acceleration, as with CORN moving from 4.82% in April 2026 to 14.63% by June and 29.35% by September.
It is a bad view for judging a single event, and that is where the toggle gets misread. A cumulative series never falls, so a discrete cliff and a long stretch of per-second linear release both appear as upward slope, and a large release into a large base barely changes the gradient. Tokenomist's own guidance is explicit: by toggling off the cumulative view, users "can precisely determine the impact of each individual cliff unlock event by overlaying its price on the vesting schedule". Run that way, SAND showed every individual cliff unlock exerting downward pressure on price, while IMX went through numerous unlock events from late 2022 through March 2023 with its price rising anyway. Neither pattern is visible on a cumulative line. The claimed-tokens overlay works the same way: on PENDLE, plotted per period, the claimed amount approaching the total unlock amount is the readable signal.
One caveat on the non-cumulative view: the bucket you choose is part of the answer. Projects release on no common interval, some per second and some per quarter, which is why Tokenomist normalises emissions into fixed windows rather than plotting raw events. The set depends on the surface: a token's emission view carries All, +1D, +7D, +1M, +6M, +1Y and +4Y, while the Emission Screener exposes only 7D, 1M, 6M and 1Y. A monthly bucket can merge several cliffs into one bar and a daily bucket can make a routine drip look like a wall of activity. Denominator matters as much as the view: Nillion's March 24, 2026 release of 114.48M tokens was only about $6.85M and 11.45% of total supply, but a 37.70% expansion of circulating supply.
Real World Examples
The Sandbox (SAND): the per-event pattern the cumulative line hides
View →Plotted in the unaccumulative view with price overlaid, SAND's history showed every individual cliff unlock exerting downward pressure on price as circulating supply rose. Its unlock events predominantly allocated tokens to Team and Advisors, and Tokenomist tracked the unlocked tokens moving from the team wallet to centralised exchanges shortly after receipt.
Immutable (IMX): the counterexample that only shows up per event
View →IMX went through numerous unlock events from late 2022 through March 2023 while its price continued to rise, contradicting the conventional expectation that unlocks push price down. The point is only legible when each event is drawn as its own bar; on a cumulative line the same period is an unremarkable upward slope.
Pendle (PENDLE): overlaying claimed tokens on the per-period view
View →Tokenomist overlays the claimed chart on the unaccumulative vesting schedule to show how much of each release has actually been taken. On PENDLE, the claimed amount approaching the total unlock amount indicated almost all tokens had been claimed, which the market reads as less unexpected future selling still pending.
Nillion (NIL): March 24, 2026, small in dollars, large in float
View →NIL unlocked 114.48M tokens worth roughly $6.85M, well short of that month's dollar leaderboard. Read per event and against the right base it was 11.45% of total supply and a 37.70% expansion in circulating supply, a float increase large enough to reset the short-term supply and demand balance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which view should I use to judge a specific unlock?
The non-cumulative one. Tokenomist's guidance for the Pro chart is to toggle the cumulative view off, which is what lets you determine the impact of each individual cliff unlock by overlaying price on the vesting schedule. On a cumulative line the same event is a change in gradient, and if the release is small relative to supply already out, it is not a visible change at all.
Then when is the cumulative view the better one?
When the question is about the schedule rather than an event: how far through its release a token is, how much total supply arrives by a date, and how that compares across tokens. Tokenomist's monthly unlock research uses it that way, reading SPEC to 28.98%, RED to 28.59% and SOLV to 28.31% of total supply by September 2026 and treating 20% cumulative release as the level that starts to reshape long-term valuation rather than short-term volatility.
What does Tokenomist call the non-cumulative view?
Two things, depending on where you are. The Pro price-analysis chart calls it the unaccumulative view and exposes it as a cumulative toggle you switch off. Simplified Unlocks is the standalone version, described at launch as a simpler visualisation of the unlock schedule displaying unlock amount per selected timeframe of day, week or month, so that significant unlocks are easy to identify.
Does the timeframe change what the chart says?
Yes, and it is the most common trap in the non-cumulative view. Projects release on no common interval, from per-second streams to quarterly cliffs, so Tokenomist normalises emissions into fixed windows to make them comparable, with the set depending on the surface: All, +1D, +7D, +1M, +6M, +1Y and +4Y on a token's emission view, only 7D, 1M, 6M and 1Y on the Emission Screener. A monthly bucket can merge several separate cliffs into one bar, and a daily bucket can make a routine linear drip look like sustained activity. Fix the window before comparing tokens.
Related Terms
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