NEAR Protocol’s decentralized governance body, the House of Stake, has approved proposal HSP-029 to lower the network’s maximum annual token issuance from 2.5% to 1.6%. The vote passed with overwhelming support on Monday and changes only that single protocol parameter, retaining the existing 90/10 split of newly issued tokens between staking participants and the protocol treasury.
Once implemented, the issuance ceiling will decline linearly each epoch at roughly 3.75 basis points per month, reaching the 1.6% target at the 24-month mark. According to the proposal, the ramp would avoid roughly 11.8 million NEAR of issuance over the first two years and about 66.1 million NEAR over six years, leaving supply approximately 4.36% smaller than under the previous 2.5% ceiling. Daily issuance would fall from roughly 89,500 NEAR to 57,300 NEAR at full implementation, while gross staking yield is projected to decline from 5.268% to 3.372% over the same period, assuming staking participation remains unchanged.
NEAR said the bootstrapping phase is largely over and that the active validator set is oversubscribed. Continued issuance at the prior rate was seen as transferring value from the roughly 57% of non-staked supply to stakers while adding sell pressure. “This is how NEAR's economics evolve transparently and programmatically: token holders put a core parameter to a public vote, and the new rate rolls out epoch by epoch on a published schedule,” the project stated.
Before the change becomes binding, the House of Stake Security Council must review the result, followed by a 90-day grace period. Validators will then need to adopt a protocol upgrade. NEAR previously reduced maximum issuance from 5% to 2.5% in October 2025.
