Token generation event (TGE)

A token generation event (TGE) is the moment a project's token is first created on-chain, which typically sets the start date for airdrop claims, vesting schedules and the first trading listings. Arbitrum's docs give a clean sequence: the token generation event for ARB took place on 16 March 2023, user airdrop claims opened on 23 March 2023, and team and investor tokens began unlocking one year after the TGE. Projects often describe their allocations relative to it. The tokenomics of SEED list investors at 7% released at TGE followed by a 3 month cliff, and the team at 0% at TGE with a 12 month cliff.

The days around a TGE are when fake presales and claim pages appear, because a token everyone is waiting for has no market yet. Before HMSTR launched, Binance's 12 September 2024 notice said it would be the first platform to list the token, with trading from 2024-09-26 12:00 UTC, and that any claim to offer it for sale before then was likely false advertising. Arbitrum's page stated plainly that there was no presale. More in what is a TGE.