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3. Token Distribution

In 2020, the initial token supply was minted and subsequently distributed across several categories, with the following breakdown (after adjustments and updates through 2024):

  • DAO Treasury: 27% of total supply — reserved for ecosystem growth, grants, and governance.

  • Team: 19% — allocated to core developers and contributors, subject to vesting.

  • Investors: 17% — early backers and private sale participants, with lock-up and vesting schedules.

  • Community Incentives: 20% — used for airdrops, staking, farming, and liquidity mining rewards.

  • Foundation Reserve: 17% — long-term strategic reserve to support partnerships and liquidity.

Cliffs and Vesting:

  • Team and investors: tokens were subject to a cliff until August 2024, followed by gradual linear vesting through 2028.

  • DAO Treasury: distribution is controlled by governance decisions, with no automatic release schedule.

  • Community Incentives: partly unlocked at launch (2020–2021) for early adoption, with the majority allocated to programs in 2024–2026.

Circulating Supply (as of August 2025):

  • Total supply: 1,000,000,000 STON

  • Maximum supply: 1,000,000,000 STON

  • Circulating: ~510,000,000 STON (51%)

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3.1 Conclusions on Token Distribution

  1. Balanced allocation: The distribution includes both ecosystem development (DAO, community incentives) and stakeholders (team, investors).

  2. Vesting pressure: More than 49% of supply remains locked and will be gradually unlocked through 2028, creating persistent background sell pressure.

  3. DAO control: A large share (27%) is in the DAO treasury, which gives the community strong influence over token flows but also creates risks of inefficient allocation.

  4. Market impact: The simultaneous unlocking of team and investor tokens in August 2024 added significant sell pressure and coincided with a deep price correction.

  5. Critical dependence on incentives: With 20% of supply allocated to community programs, there is a high risk of oversupply if demand mechanisms are not improved.

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3.2 Critical Unlocks

  • TGE (June 2023):

    • Marketing: 2M STON (20% of pool).

    • Operations: 4M STON (40% of pool). This formed the initial circulating supply on the market and influenced the first weeks of liquidity.

  • 12th month after TGE (June 2024) — start of the largest linear unlock wave: Vesting begins for Pre-seed, Private Sale, and Advisors: a total of 36M STON over 24 months, i.e. approximately 1.50M STON/month until the 36th month. → This is the longest-lasting source of sell pressure.

  • 24th month (June 2025) — “double” critical milestone:

    • Team tokens exit cliff: ~0.583M STON/month for the next 24 months.

    • DAO Treasury (20M STON) ceases to be “hard” staked: partial withdrawals are allowed by DAO decision.

    • At the same time, investor unlocks (~1.50M STON/month, finishing at the 36th month) continue, plus current DAO programs (~0.489M STON/month from Marketing/Operations/Incentives). → Total peak issuance in the 24–36 month window may reach ~2.57M STON/month.

  • 36th month (June 2026) — easing of supply pressure: Linear unlocks for Pre-seed / Private / Advisors and Marketing end. Monthly inflow falls to ~0.85M STON/month (Team + Operations + Incentives) until the 48th month.

  • 48th month (June 2027) — further decline: Team vesting ends. Only Operations + Incentives remain, ~0.267M STON/month until the 60th month.

  • 60th month (June 2028) — main emission exhausted: Unlocks for Operations and Incentives pools end. From this point onward, supply-side pressure depends mainly on DAO Treasury decisions (grants, incentives, buybacks, burns).

Risks for token price:

  • Maximum sell pressure expected during months 24–36, as unlocks overlap across multiple pools (investors, Team, Treasury).

  • After 24 months, everything depends on DAO decisions. If the DAO spends Treasury aggressively, it may amplify selling pressure. If it votes for buybacks or burns, pressure could decrease.

Monitoring priorities:

  • Unlock calendar (12/24/36/48/60 months).

  • DAO Treasury decisions.

  • Short-term effects of Marketing/Incentive campaigns.

Risk mitigation strategies:

  • Treasury management: spending caps per month/quarter, prohibition of large one-off tranches.

  • Buyback & burn policy: automatic buyback and burn of part of protocol revenues to offset net supply inflows.

  • Vesting adjustments: voluntary extensions or re-lock agreements with major holders.

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3.3 Conclusions

  1. The token distribution schedule creates predictable supply overhangs with clear stress points at months 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60.

  2. The heaviest pressure falls on the 24–36 month window (June 2025 – June 2026), when investor, team, and Treasury tokens all overlap.

  3. After month 36, pressure gradually decreases, with almost all major unlocks completed by month 60 (June 2028).

  4. DAO Treasury plays a critical role: depending on governance decisions, Treasury can either worsen sell pressure (via grants/distributions) or reduce it (via buybacks/burns).

  5. Long-term stability depends on establishing sustainable utility and token sinks, otherwise unlock waves will continue to dominate market dynamics.

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