A public sale is the final fundraising stage before a token's public listing. It offers tokens to the general public, usually at the highest pre-listing price. Public sales can take various forms including Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs), Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), or direct token sales.
Public sale tokens typically have minimal or no vesting — they may be fully unlocked at TGE or have a very short vesting period. This is because public sale participants pay the highest price and take on the least pre-listing risk.
The size of the public sale allocation and its unlock terms directly impact initial trading dynamics. A large immediate unlock at TGE from public sale participants can create volatility during the first hours and days of trading.