Token Vesting on TradePesa — Anti-Rug-Pull Protection for Creators & Early Buyers | TradePesa

🔒 Creator Feature

Token Vesting
on TradePesa

An optional protection a creator can turn on when launching a token: their own tokens, and anyone who buys during the token's early-buyer window, get locked on a cliff-then-linear release schedule instead of being instantly sellable — so nobody can pump and dump early, even by just waiting out a clock.

What Vesting Actually Locks

When creating a token, you can check a box to enable vesting. It's a one-time choice made at creation — there's no turning it on for a token later. If enabled, two groups of holdings get locked instead of being freely sellable the moment they're bought:

The creator — every purchase the creator makes of their own token, for as long as the token exists, is locked. No exceptions, no waiting it out. Early buyers — anyone who buys while the token is still in its early-buyer window has that purchase locked too. That window only closes once both 48 hours have passed and at least 15 other real people have bought the token — whichever takes longer. Buy after the window genuinely closes, and your tokens trade completely normally with no lock at all.

Locked tokens still count toward your portfolio value and profit/loss like normal — the only thing they can't do yet is be sold. They release gradually and automatically; nobody has to manually unlock anything.

How the Release Schedule Works

Every locked purchase follows the same two-stage schedule, set by the creator at launch (7-day cliff / 30-day vesting by default).

Stage 1

🔒 Locked at purchase

The moment a locked purchase happens, those tokens move into a separate locked balance. They still belong to the buyer and count toward portfolio value — they just can't be sold yet.

Stage 2

⏳ Cliff period

For the cliff period (7 days by default), nothing releases at all — 0% sellable, no matter how much was locked.

Stage 3

📈 Linear release

After the cliff, the locked amount unlocks gradually in a straight line over the vesting duration (30 days by default) — a little more becomes sellable every hour, automatically.

Stage 4

✅ Fully unlocked

Once the full vesting duration has passed since the cliff ended, 100% of that locked purchase is free to sell, same as any normal balance.

Vesting-Protected vs Normal Token

Vesting is a trade-off the creator makes on behalf of the token's early economics — a trust signal for traders, at the cost of the creator (and early buyers) not being able to sell everything immediately.

FeatureVesting-ProtectedNormal Token
Creator's own purchasesLocked, released on cliff + linear scheduleAlways applies, no waiting it outSellable immediately, same as anyone
Buyers during the early-buyer windowLocked, same schedule as the creatorSellable immediately
Buyers once the window genuinely closesSellable immediately — vesting never applies to themSellable immediately
Cliff & vesting durationCreator-configurable (0-90 day cliff, 1-365 day duration)Not applicable
Early-buyer window closes when...48 hours have passed and 15+ other real buyers exist - fixed platform-wide, not adjustableNot applicable
Locked tokens count toward portfolio/P&LYes, immediatelyN/A
Can be added after token creationNo — must be chosen at creationN/A

What Vesting Does Not Do

We'd rather you know the real limits upfront than find out later.

⚠️ Straight talk on the limits of this feature

  • It does not stop wash trading. Vesting controls how fast the creator and early buyers can exit their position — it has nothing to do with fake volume from round-tripped trades. They're different problems.
  • It's a one-time choice. A token created without vesting can't have it switched on afterward.
  • The 48-hour window and 15-buyer threshold are fixed, not creator-adjustable — by design, so a creator can't shrink them to near-zero and quietly defeat the protection while still showing the vesting badge.
  • It doesn't guarantee the token succeeds or holds its value. Vesting only controls the release schedule of certain holdings — it says nothing about demand, quality, or where the price goes.
  • Locked tokens are still owned by the holder. They count toward portfolio value and profit/loss right away — vesting only restricts selling, not ownership.

Common Questions

What is token vesting on TradePesa?
An option a creator can choose at creation. If enabled, the creator's own purchases and anyone who buys during the early-buyer window get locked instead of instantly sellable — a cliff with no release, then a gradual linear unlock. It exists to stop a creator or early insiders from pumping and dumping right after launch.
Why would a creator lock their own tokens?
It's a credibility signal — proof the creator can't dump their own holdings right after launch, since the lock is enforced by the platform itself on the same schedule as everyone else's early-buyer tokens.
Who counts as an "early buyer" for vesting purposes?
Anyone who buys while the token is still in its early-buyer window. That window stays open until BOTH at least 48 hours have passed since creation AND at least 15 other real people (besides the creator) have bought in - whichever takes longer. Every purchase inside the window is locked, not just the first one.
Doesn't that mean someone could just wait 48 hours and then dump?
Not for the creator - their own purchases are always locked, no waiting it out, ever. For anyone else, waiting alone isn't enough: the window only closes once 48 hours have passed and at least 15 other real people have bought the token. A patient insider needs genuine outside interest to show up first - and a token with that much real interest is one where a dump does far less damage anyway.
What's the cliff and vesting duration, and can the creator change them?
The cliff is how long locked tokens sit with zero release (7 days by default). The vesting duration is how long the straight-line unlock takes after the cliff (30 days by default). Creators can adjust both at creation, within a 0-90 day cliff and a 1-365 day duration.
Can the 48-hour window or the 15-buyer threshold be changed by the creator?
No — both are fixed platform-wide. Letting creators adjust them themselves would let a bad-faith creator shrink them to almost nothing, so effectively nobody counts as an early buyer, defeating the protection while still showing the vesting badge.
What happens to my tokens once the early-buyer window closes?
Nothing is locked. Once both the 48-hour window has passed and at least 15 other real buyers exist, every buyer other than the creator trades with a normal, immediately sellable balance.
Can vesting be added to a token that already exists?
Not currently. It's a one-time choice made at the moment a token is created — there's no way to turn it on retroactively for an existing token.

Launching a Token?

Enable vesting at creation if you want to prove you can't dump your own holdings right after launch — or skip it and let it trade freely from minute one.

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