A supply schedule can be honest and fixed, or it can be a flexible lever a small group controls. Telling the two apart is a core skill for anyone who cares about fair launches. Here is how to read a schedule critically, using Malairte as the example of a fixed, transparent one.
Question one: is it coded or controlled?
The first question is whether emission is fixed in the protocol or determined by a person or committee that can mint at will. A fixed schedule, enforced by every node, cannot be changed quietly. Discretionary minting is the opposite of a fair-launch schedule and a sign to be cautious.
Question two: does supply match mining?
Compare reported circulating supply against mined blocks times the reward. If supply is much higher than mining explains, coins came from somewhere else, a premine, a sale, or a mint. A clean match is what a fair emission like Malairte should show.
Question three: is the cap real?
- Check whether a maximum supply is defined and enforced in code.
- Confirm the emission curve actually approaches that cap rather than ignoring it.
- Be wary of caps that can be raised by a team decision.
Question four: who can change the rules?
A fair-launch schedule changes only by broad network agreement, because every node enforces it. If a single key or small group can alter emission, the schedule is not truly fixed, no matter how it is described.
Common ways to be fooled
Watch for vague documentation, caps that are technically changeable, and circulating-supply figures that do not reconcile with mining. Marketing language often emphasizes scarcity while glossing over who controls issuance. Read the code, not the brochure.
The honest framing
Reading a supply schedule tells you about issuance mechanics, not value, and nothing here is financial advice. The goal is to recognize a fixed, transparent schedule when you see one, which is what makes a fair launch durable beyond its first day. Malairte is built to pass each of these questions.