KAITO unlocks 17.6 million tokens every month. Is that 7% of supply, or 3.5%?
2026-10-29 · Unlock Pulse
- The next KAITO unlock falls on November 19–20, 2026: about 17.6 million tokens, 1.76% of the 1 billion total supply, about $4.5 million at today's price. It repeats every month until January 2029.
- By the project's own schedule, about 9.3 million of those tokens a month go to core contributors and early backers (36 monthly payments since February 2026). The rest goes to ecosystem and foundation allocations.
- How big it is depends on the base. Popular trackers still show about 241 million KAITO in circulation, the amount released at launch. Against that, the payment is 7.3%. The project's schedule shows about 500 million released by now. Against that, it is 3.5%. Both are below our 10.4% line for a strong unlock.
- Over the last 16 monthly payments, KAITO did not move in any consistent way around the date: in the 7 days before, it was weaker than Bitcoin 9 times out of 16, by a median of 2.2%, and the average was flat.
- The steady flow matters more than any single date: since team and investor vesting began in February 2026, KAITO is down 27%, and 32% against Bitcoin.
What unlocks and who gets it
Kaito publishes its allocation and a release chart in its documentation. Of 1 billion KAITO, 25% belongs to core contributors and 8.3% to early backers (seed and Series A investors); 32.2% is ecosystem and network growth, 10% foundation, 10% the initial community claim, 7.5% long-term creator incentives, 5% liquidity incentives and 2% the Binance HODLer airdrop.
The release schedule shows nothing for the team and investors in the first year, then equal monthly steps from February 2026 to January 2029. Spread over 36 months, that is about 6.9 million KAITO a month to core contributors and 2.3 million to early backers: 9.3 million of the 17.6 million, or 53% of each payment. Twice a year, in February and August, the step is larger (3.26% of supply on the calendars), and the next one of those is in February 2027.
Why the size is a matter of definition
We rate unlocks by new tokens divided by tokens already in the market. For KAITO the denominator is unclear. The circulating figure shown by popular trackers, about 241 million, equals the launch-day float and has not grown with the vesting. The project's chart shows the released total near 500 million by November 2026.
Both readings can be true at once. Released tokens are not necessarily traded tokens: ecosystem and foundation allocations often sit in project wallets for months. But team and investor tokens, once paid out, are usually free to sell. So the honest size of the November payment sits somewhere between 3.5% and 7.3% of the real float. That is medium either way.
What past payouts did to the price
We measured KAITO against Bitcoin on Binance futures around each of its 16 monthly payments from July 2025 to October 2026:
- 7 days before the date: weaker than Bitcoin 9 times out of 16; median −2.2%, average −0.1%.
- 7 days after: weaker 8 times out of 16; average +0.7%.
- The largest moves had nothing to do with size. In July 2026 KAITO gained about 50% on Bitcoin in the week before a routine payment, and lost 33% before the larger August step.
In short, there is no reliable dip to time around these dates. What does show is the drift: since the first team and investor payment in February 2026, KAITO has fallen 27% in dollars and 32% against Bitcoin, and it is 84% below its first futures close in February 2025. A monthly payment of 2 to 3% of the float every month adds steady selling pressure even when no single date stands out.
What to watch
- November 19–20: the payment itself. Calendars disagree by a day: one lists the 19th, another the 20th.
- December 19–20 and January: the same 17.6 million tokens.
- February 2027: the next larger semi-annual step, about 3.26% of supply.
- Any update from Kaito to its circulating supply figure. If trackers move to the released total, KAITO's market cap will roughly double on paper with no change in price.
- We track the result in our journal.
Method
Allocation and release schedule: Kaito's tokenomics and token release schedule, read October 29, 2026. Monthly amounts for the team and investors are our arithmetic from those pages (36 equal payments). Calendar dates and price: our calendar on October 29, 2026. Price history: Binance KAITOUSDT and BTCUSDT perpetual futures daily closes; "against Bitcoin" is KAITO's return minus Bitcoin's over the same days.
Not checked: the vesting wallets on Base. We did not trace which released tokens have actually moved to exchanges.
Disclosure: Unlock Pulse holds no position in KAITO. Not financial advice.
Questions
When is the next KAITO unlock?
November 19–20, 2026: about 17.6 million KAITO, 1.76% of total supply. Payments of the same size follow every month until January 2029, with larger steps in February and August.
Who receives the unlocked KAITO?
About 53% goes to core contributors and early investors, by the project's own allocation spread over 36 months. The rest goes to ecosystem growth and the foundation.
Does KAITO usually fall before its unlocks?
Not reliably. Across 16 monthly payments since July 2025 it was weaker than Bitcoin in the week before 9 times, with an average close to zero. The longer trend since February 2026 has been down.
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