Tokenomics
The economic design of a token — its supply, distribution, and incentives — that shapes whether it can hold value.
Tokenomics covers how a token's economy is built: how many exist, how new ones are minted or destroyed, who received early allocations and when their lock-ups expire, and what holders can actually do with the token. Strong projects publish this clearly. Weak ones bury it in a footnote.
The details decide outcomes. A token where insiders hold 60% with cliffs expiring next quarter faces heavy sell pressure no matter how good the technology is. Broad distribution and steady burns tend to support price; endless inflation and concentrated holdings erode it. Reading tokenomics is the closest thing crypto has to reading a balance sheet.
Related terms
The number of coins actually available and trading in the market, excluding locked, reserved, or unreleased tokens.
Max SupplyThe hard ceiling on how many units of a coin can ever exist, fixed by the protocol's rules.
BurnPermanently removing tokens from circulation by sending them to an address no one can spend from, shrinking supply.
TokenA digital asset issued on top of an existing blockchain, usually through a smart contract rather than its own network.