NEAR Proposes Two-Year Issuance Reduction, Staking Yield Cut
TREE NEWS reports: NEAR Protocol is considering a significant change to its tokenomics. Sal Ternullo, CEO of NEAR treasury firm SVRN, has introduced a proposal on the NEAR governance forum that would gradually reduce NEAR’s maximum annual token issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6% over a 24-month period. The plan also targets a reduction in staking yields, from roughly 5.4% to approximately 3.5%.
The proposal is currently in a feedback phase, with validators, House of Stake delegators, and community members invited to weigh in. A complete version is expected to be published next week for a formal vote.
Why the Issuance Cut Matters
NEAR’s inflation schedule has long been a point of debate among holders. A reduction in the maximum issuance rate would mechanically lower the pace of new supply entering circulation, a lever that token holders often view as supportive of long-term value accrual. At the same time, cutting staking rewards from ~5.4% to ~3.5% could reshape validator economics and delegator incentives across the network.
- Supply side: Lower issuance slows dilution and may strengthen the case for NEAR as a store-of-value within its own ecosystem.
- Security budget: Reduced staking yields could test how much capital remains locked in securing the network, a trade-off every proof-of-stake chain must manage.
- Governance signal: The proposal reflects a maturing DAO-style process, where treasury entities and delegators actively shape monetary policy.
Security Incident Clarified
NEAR Protocol also moved to clarify a recent security event involving NEAR Intents. The team stated that the blockchain network is operating normally, that the incident was not caused by a vulnerability in NEAR Protocol or the native NEAR token, and that the chain continues to produce blocks and process transactions without downtime. The clarification appears aimed at separating an application-layer issue from the base-layer protocol, a distinction that matters for how markets and developers assess risk.
Forward-Looking Perspective
If approved, the issuance cut would make NEAR one of the more aggressive major Layer-1 networks in tightening supply. The key questions ahead: whether validators accept lower rewards without meaningful stake attrition, and whether the reduction meaningfully shifts NEAR’s inflation narrative in the eyes of institutional allocators. The coming vote will be a test of how decentralized monetary policy actually gets decided in practice.
