Aligned ALIGN Tokenomics Update
TL;DR
- Total Supply: 10,000,000,000 ALIGN
- Allocation: 23.50% Team | 19.71% Investors | 18.00% Ecosystem | 16.61% Future Provisions | 11.40% Foundation | 8.74% Airdrop | 2.04% Community Sales
- TGE Circulating Token Supply: ~16%
Aligned builds the tools that turn Ethereum into the world’s financial backend. We provide a one-click stack that enables fintechs, institutions, and enterprises to upgrade to Ethereum without the usual integration complexity.
Teams can use Aligned to launch remittances, neobanks, stablecoin-based payment rails, digital identity systems, and other scalable financial services with cross-ecosystem reach — all through a single integration spanning wallets, rollups, interoperability, and ZK services.
Since first sharing our tokenomics, Aligned has continued to expand. What began as a vision to reduce the cost and latency of zero-knowledge proof verification on Ethereum has evolved into a broader infrastructure stack for verifiable computation.
In recent months, we’ve launched our Proof Verification Layer (mainnet beta) and introduced the Proof Aggregation Service (mainnet alpha). We're also actively developing our Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) platform and our Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) platform, powered by Ethrex, enabling ZK-rollups to connect to each other and to Ethereum L1. In addition, we are developing our RISC-V zkVM.
As our infrastructure expands, it becomes increasingly important for our economic design to evolve alongside it. With this in mind, we’re sharing an updated view of our tokenomics with the community.
Token Overview
The ALIGN token is the native asset of the Aligned ecosystem, built on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token. With a fixed total supply of 10 billion tokens, with an initial circulating supply of approximately 16%.
Token Allocations and Vesting Schedules
The allocation is divided into seven main categories:
Team & Investors
Both Team and Investor allocations follow identical vesting terms. No tokens from these categories will enter circulation until one year after TGE.
- % of Total Token Supply:
- Team: 23.50%
- Investors: 19.71%
- TGE Unlock: 0%
- Cliff: 12 months
- Post-Cliff Unlock (Month 12): 40%
- Remaining Vesting: 18-month linear vesting
Foundation
The Foundation allocation supports Aligned’s operations, including the Foundation Treasury, operators, advisors, and growth initiatives. A portion is available at TGE to support operations from day one, with the remainder vesting over 30 months.
- % of Total Token Supply: 11.40%
- TGE Unlock: 37.83%
- % of Total Token Supply at TGE: 4.31%
- Vesting: 30-month vesting
The Operators allocation represents 0.20% of total token supply dedicated to the operators securing Aligned’s Proof Verification Layer.
- Operators with ≤10,000 tokens: Fully unlocked at TGE
- Operators with >10,000 tokens: 10,000 tokens at TGE + 12-month linear vesting
Ecosystem
The Ecosystem allocation supports the project through grants, developer incentives, and protocol integrations.
- % of Total Token Supply: 18.00%
- TGE Unlock: 3.23%
- % of Total Token Supply at TGE: 0.58%
- Cliff: 6 months (Month 1 to Month 6)
- Vesting: 24-month linear vesting (Month 7 to Month 30)
Future Provisions
This allocation is reserved for future initiatives, intended to provide resources to fund protocol development, pursue strategic opportunities, and support development beyond launch.
- % of Total Token Supply: 16.61%
- TGE Unlock: 40.24%
- % of Total Token Supply at TGE: 6.68%
- Cliff: 6 months (Month 1 to Month 6)
- Vesting: 24-month linear vesting (Month 7 to Month 30)
Community Sales
Community Sales opened ALIGN to the public through token sales, allowing a wider audience to participate in the Aligned ecosystem.
- % of Total Token Supply: 2.04%
- TGE Unlock: 32.72%
- % of Total Token Supply at TGE: 0.67%
Community Sales is composed of two community opportunities: CoinList and Echo.
- CoinList
- % of Total Token Supply: 1.04%
- CoinList Option 1: 25% unlocked at TGE + 3-month linear vesting
- CoinList Option 2: Fully unlocked at TGE
- Echo:
- % of Total Token Supply: 1%
- TGE Unlock: 0%
- Cliff: 12 months
- Post-Cliff Unlock (Month 12): 40%
- Remaining Vesting: 18-month linear vesting
Airdrop
The Airdrop is the Aligned Foundation's way of thanking everyone who has supported crypto, Ethereum, and ZK. It will promote a series of initiatives with the community to foster the adoption of verifiable computation and zero-knowledge technology.
- % of Total Token Supply: 8.74%
- TGE Unlock: 44.36%
- % of Total Token Supply at TGE: 3.88%
The airdrop is structured across three components:
Airdrop Criteria & Waves
The Airdrop allocation was distributed across multiple waves, each targeting different segments of our community:
Wave 1: Engineers, Developers & Researchers: The first wave recognized those who have made contributions to public goods and pioneering projects in ZK and blockchain. 4,639 people were eligible for this wave.
Wave 2: Discord Community: The second wave rewarded active members of our Discord community. 1,769 people were eligible for this category.
Wave 3: Galxe Quest Participants: The third wave was for those who participated in our Galxe quests, demonstrating engagement with our ecosystem. 89,113 people were eligible for this wave.
Wave 4: Distinguished Contributors: Organizations and individuals recognized for outstanding contributions to Ethereum and ZK, including Protocol Guild, L2BEAT, ZachXBT, and ZK Podcast.
Wave 5: Ecosystem Token Holders: The Aligned Foundation also allocated a significant portion of the airdrop to token holders of projects that share our vision for zero-knowledge technology, including:
The Aligned Genesis Drop registration closed in late 2024, with more than 160,000 registered wallets.
Airdrop 1
Smaller holders receive their full allocation at TGE, while larger allocations vest over time:
- Wallets with ≤10,000 tokens: 100% unlocked at TGE
- Wallets with >10,000 tokens: 10,000 tokens at TGE + 12-month linear vesting
Airdrop 2
Airdrop 2 is dedicated to Wave 4, the Distinguished Contributors:
- Protocol Guild (1.5%): Supporting Ethereum core developers who maintain and improve the protocol
- L2BEAT (0.2%): Providing transparency and analytics for Layer 2 ecosystems
- ZachXBT (0.2%): Protecting the community through on-chain investigation and accountability
- ZK Podcast (0.2%): Educating the community about zero-knowledge technology
- % of Total Token Supply: 2.10%
- TGE Unlock: 2.08%
- Vesting: 47-month linear vesting
ZK Arcade
ZK Arcade is an arcade gaming platform built on top of the Aligned Proof Verification Layer. It was created both as a new airdrop campaign and as an example platform where people can experience our technology firsthand. While most of our infrastructure is B2B focused, we wanted to introduce a fun and accessible way for our community to interact with zero-knowledge proofs.
Access to ZK Arcade was through whitelisting via raffles hosted with our partners and key opinion leaders across our communities. The ZK Arcade Premium ticket has a limited supply of 700.
Since launch, the platform verified 5644 proofs, 522 NFTs minted, and distributed 657.22M points. While the campaign has concluded, you can still access the website and explore the fully on-chain leaderboard.
- % of Total Token Supply: 0.10%
- TGE Unlock: Fully unlocked at TGE
Learn more about ZK Arcade:
You can check your eligibility and allocation in the Airdrop Checker here: https://community.alignedlayer.com/
Vesting Timeline
The chart below illustrates the cumulative token unlock over time. Team and Investor tokens remain fully locked until the 12-month cliff, while other allocations begin unlocking at TGE. Most vesting completes by Month 30, with the timeline extending to Month 47 due to Airdrop 2 vesting.
TGE Summary
At TGE, approximately 16% of total supply will enter circulation, distributed as follows:
Token Utility
Planned Future Use Cases
ALIGN is intended to be used to pay fees for the services provided across the Aligned stack, including Proof Verification, Proof Aggregation, Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS), and Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS).
Product Suite
Aligned builds the infrastructure to help fintechs, institutions, and enterprises upgrade to Ethereum.
Our current product suite includes:
- Proof Verification Layer (Mainnet Beta) — decentralized ZK proof verification on Ethereum
- Proof Aggregation Service (Mainnet Alpha) — batching multiple proofs to reduce costs
- Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) — deploy ZK-rollups powered by Ethrex
- Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) (In Development) — wallet infrastructure for rollups
- RISC-V zkVM (In Development) — in collaboration with LambdaClass and 3MI Labs
Aligned is also working with partners building on our stack, including Sovra for digital identity and government applications for million of users in Latin America, and Loom Finance connecting companies to crypto liquidity for revenue-based financing.
To learn more about our products and roadmap, see Aligned Roadmap: Ethereum as a Financial Backend.
Conclusion
The ALIGN tokenomics are designed with one goal in mind: to support Aligned's mission of making Ethereum the financial backend for the world. We're grateful to our community for joining us on this journey, and we're excited to see what we'll build together.
Learn More
- Aligned Roadmap: Ethereum as a Financial Backend
- Proof Verification Layer: Mainnet Beta Announcement
- Proof Aggregation Service: Mainnet Alpha
- Introducing Aligned RaaS
Stay up to date with everything we're building. Follow us on Twitter at @alignedlayer and subscribe to our newsletter for product updates, research insights, and ecosystem announcements.
