Quick Breakdown
- Solana co-founder Anatoly “Toly” Yakovenko has outlined a new capital formation model for early-stage Web3 projects to ensure long-term sustainability.
- The framework advocates for releasing over 20% of tokens at the Token Generation Event (TGE) while enforcing a strict one-year total lockup for investors.
- Yakovenko suggests that teams and investors should remain locked on launch day, prioritizing core user airdrops and fair auctions for distribution.
Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana, has proposed a transformative capital formation model designed to align the incentives of early-stage blockchain projects with long-term holders. In a recent public statement on X, Yakovenko argued that optimal tokenomics should include robust staking mechanisms and a significant initial circulating supply of at least 20% at launch. The proposal seeks to move away from “low float, high FDV” models that have recently drawn criticism for causing predatory price action on retail traders.
If this works, I am pretty sure that the optimal formula to capital formation for early stage startups is:
1) staking for long term holders
2) day 1 tge 20%+ release of tokens
3) better to have zero investors but if you have some unlock them all 100% on the same day 1 year after… https://t.co/nQfP7af6hb— toly 🇺🇸 (@toly) January 21, 2026
Prioritizing long-term stability over investor liquidity
The proposed model emphasizes a strict separation between community access and early-stage financier liquidity. Yakovenko believes that any investors participating in a project should receive a 100% unlock only after a full year has passed from the TGE. Furthermore, he asserts that neither the project teams nor their private investors should have any liquid tokens on the day of launch.
Instead of traditional private sale distributions, Yakovenko suggests that token distribution is better handled via core user airdrops or fair auctions. This approach is intended to minimize investor interference in the early price discovery phase, allowing the market to set a value based on actual user engagement and community demand.
Contextual shift in Solana’s economic philosophy
This proposal comes at a time when the Solana ecosystem is actively debating the efficacy of defensive market strategies. Recently, Solana-based decentralized exchange Jupiter faced community backlash after $70 million in buybacks failed to offset $1.2 billion in token unlocks. Yakovenko responded to that event by suggesting that protocols should “stash the cash” for future claimable assets rather than performing short-term repurchases.
By advocating for a 20% TGE unlock, Yakovenko is drawing from Solana’s own history, where approximately 23% of $SOL tokens were circulating at its 2020 launch. Industry data suggests that projects with higher initial unlocks often see better price stability and higher community trust scores compared to those that launch with less than 10% of their supply.
If you would like to read more articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
