Token generation event (TGE)

Before a TGE, a token exists only as promises: allocations in a SAFT, points in a farming program or a line in a whitepaper. At the TGE the contract is deployed, the supply is minted and the tokens due at launch, such as airdrop portions or the unlocked part of a public sale, are distributed. Trading on exchanges and DEX pools usually begins the same day.

The term replaced 'ICO' in many announcements partly because it describes a technical event rather than a fundraising sale, which sounded better to regulators. For the market, TGE day is a key date: price discovery, airdrop recipients selling, and the start of vesting clocks for team and investors.

Volatility is extreme around TGEs. Thin order books, pre-market prices that do not hold and bots sniping first liquidity are common. Fake claim sites appear immediately, so the only safe links are those published on the project's verified channels.