When looking at the tokenomics of a project, one of the things to look for is the supply, mainly the supply that is circulating vs the total supply (supply which is yet to be released).
The more tokens are unlocked (inflation) the more the price can be suppressed, since coins which are not on the market are coming to the market and whoever is receiving the tokens might want to sell them.
This however is not certain, one (like the team of early investors) may receive tokens and does not have the desire to sell them. Hence it wouldn’t affect the price that much. But when a lot of tokens are left to be unlocked, heavy selling may occur. Lately a lot of critical comments have been made regarding this, with new tokens.
Let’s take a look at some projects where most of the supply is already on the market and where the inflation is relatively low to zero.
“Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effective applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust.”
Algorand came out in 2019, it was regarded as a quality project with a lot of potential. However the supply was criticized. There was a lot of unlocks to happen, with a low circulating supply. Now years later, ironically it has pretty good tokenomics, with most of the supply unlocked.
The hype did die down unfortunately, but their technology remains impressive, as does their partnerships.
Around 80% of the supply is unlocked, and Algorand has a capped supply.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/algorand/
Website
https://algorandtechnologies.com/
“Polkadot enables cross-blockchain transfers of any type of data or asset, not just tokens. Connecting to Polkadot gives you the ability to interoperate with a wide variety of blockchains in the Polkadot network.”
In short Polkadot is a blockchain protocol that allows different blockchains to communicate with each other. Think of it as a universal translator that enables blockchains to exchange information seamlessly.
Polkadot came out in 2020. The project was quite unique in a sense that it offered a hub where other chains could connect to, to become part of a whole. Even now this is something which is not offered a lot, and could solve a lot of problems. However other projects may offer similar infrastructures, like Optimism and Cosmos.
Most of the supply is unlocked, however the supply is inflationary and not capped.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polkadot-new/
Website
https://polkadot.network/
“The blockchain built for finance“
“Injective is a blockchain built for finance. It is an open, interoperable layer-one blockchain powering next-generation DeFi applications, including decentralized spot and derivatives exchanges, prediction markets, lending protocols and more.”
Injective came out in 2020. But didn’t really get hyped until 2023, after which is price took off as well, and rose hard.
Part of the earlier mentioned Cosmos ecosystem
Over 90% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/injective/
Website
https://injective.com/
The Internet Computer blockchain incorporates a radical rethink of blockchain design, powered by innovations in cryptography. It provides the first “World Computer” blockchain that can be used to build almost any online system or service, including demanding web social media, without need for traditional IT such as cloud computing services. As such it can enable full end-to-end decentralization.
“ICP’s vision is that most of the world’s software will be replaced by smart contracts. To realize that vision, ICP is designed to make smart contracts as powerful as traditional software.”
Internet Computer came out in 2021. However when mentioning ICP there is something which goes hand-in-hand and that is their token price action and tokenomics. This is often discussed (or ridiculed). Their token price on release was over 400 dollars (which was massively up from private sale) with a huge valuation and bad circulating vs total supply.
The price dumped to 4 dollars.
Now the tokenomics looks pretty good and they are still building, having one of the most numbers of developers active. The project is very ambitious and multiple highly respected people in crypto talk positively about ICP.
Over 90% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/internet-computer/
Website
https://internetcomputer.org/
The Graph is an indexing protocol for querying data for networks like Ethereum and IPFS, powering many applications in both DeFi and the broader Web3 ecosystem. Anyone can build and publish open APIs, called subgraphs, that applications can query using GraphQL to retrieve blockchain data.”
The Graph came out in 2021 (noticing a pattern here?). It doesn’t get the same attention as the other coins mentioned earlier, but it does hold its own. People respect the project and the trading volume is pretty good.
The project is mostly a project for developers, who can make use of their product (data and infrastructure)
Almost 90% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/the-graph/
Website
https://thegraph.com/
“The Arweave network is like Bitcoin, but for data: A permanent and decentralized web inside an open ledger.”
Permanent storage has many applications: from the preservation of humanity’s most important data, to the hosting of truly decentralized and provably neutral web apps.”
Arweave is a decentralized storage network that seeks to offer a platform for the indefinite storage of data. Describing itself as “a collectively owned hard drive that never forgets,” the network primarily hosts “the permaweb” — a permanent, decentralized web with a number of community-driven applications and platforms.
Arweave recently gained a lot of hype with innovations the project is building on.
Almost 100% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/arweave/
Website
https://www.arweave.org/
“Fantom is a directed acyclic graph (DAG) smart contract platform providing decentralized finance (DeFi) services to developers using its own bespoke consensus algorithm.”
The first L2 for Eth came out in 2018, and is one of the oldest projects still around which has a lot of attention and usage.
Fantom has a number of postive things going for it, and one of the biggest ones is a person, namely André Cronje. He is one of the most respected people in crypto and a pioneer when it comes to DeFi
Almost 90% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/fantom/
Website
https://fantom.foundation/
“Enabling an infinitely scalable web of sovereign blockchains that feels like a single chain. Powered by ZK tech.”
Permanent storage has many applications: from the preservation of humanity’s most important data, to the hosting of truly decentralized and provably neutral web apps.”
Polygon is considered to be one the best (and most complicated) crypto projects, they are constantly innovating and work hard. They are held in very high regard when it comes to quality and technology.
Arweave recently gained a lot of hyped with innovations the project is building on.
Almost 100% of the supply is unlocked.
Coinmarketcap
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon/
Website
https://polygon.technology/