NEAR holders back a gradual cut to 1.6% issuance

NEAR’s House of Stake has approved a proposal to lower the network’s maximum annual token issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months, setting up a gradual change to token supply that still requires further review and validator action. The vote on HSP-029 closed on November 2; AltcoinReporter’s account of the result says 99.97% of veNEAR cast supported it. The network’s issuance cap has not changed yet.

The proposal, published by Sal Ternullo of SVRN on the NEAR governance forum, changes one protocol parameter. It keeps the existing allocation of newly issued tokens—90% to staking participants and 10% to the protocol treasury—and reduces the cap linearly, by roughly 3.75 basis points a month, with adjustments each epoch. The target is reached at month 24.

What changes for stakers and other holders?

The proposal’s model estimates gross staking yield would fall from 5.268% to 3.372% at the target rate, assuming the staking participation measured on September 22 stays the same. That is the direct cost for stakers: fewer newly issued tokens to distribute as rewards. The proposal estimates that the ramp would leave 11.8 million fewer NEAR in supply after two years and 66.1 million fewer after six than if the 2.5% cap remained in place.

For holders who do not stake, lower issuance means slower dilution without a reduction in their staking rewards, which they do not receive. For stakers, the comparison is less one-sided: they would earn fewer tokens, while the proposal’s modeled supply reduction does not fully offset that shortfall for a staker measured against an unchanged 2.5% rate. Actual yields could also differ if the share of NEAR staked changes during the ramp.

The proposal places this vote after an earlier cut in the ceiling from 5% to 2.5% in 2025. HSP-029 uses a staged schedule rather than an immediate step down, and retains the existing distribution mechanism. That gives operators and staking services time to adapt, while making the change slower to reach its full effect. The proposal says a 90-day grace period is planned before the first reduction.

When could the lower ceiling take effect?

The House of Stake vote is a governance approval, not the protocol upgrade itself. AltcoinReporter says the result enters a 14-day timelock; the proposal also says Security Council review and ratification precede the grace period. Validators must then adopt an upgrade carrying the new schedule for the lower cap to become binding. Until those steps are complete, issuance remains capped at 2.5%.

That distinction matters because the vote alone does not determine when the ramp begins. The proposal’s model gives a path to lower issuance, but its realized effect will depend on the review process, the timing of validator adoption and the network’s staking participation as rewards decline. Those are the signals to watch next, alongside actual issuance against the proposed epoch-by-epoch schedule and validator-set health during the transition.

Sources and documents

• AltcoinReporter’s account of the result — altcoinreporter.com
• NEAR governance forum — gov.near.org