NEAR Governance Opens Vote to Cut Annual Token Issuance to 1.6%

A governance vote has opened on reducing maximum annual issuance of the NEAR token (NEAR) from 2.5% to 1.6%, a change that would slow supply growth and reduce staking rewards.

House of Stake proposal HSP-029 calls for a 90-day grace period after ratification, followed by a gradual reduction over 24 months. The vote advances a previously proposed reduction in NEAR issuance.

The proposal would keep the current allocation of new tokens: 90% to staking participants and 10% to the protocol treasury. A lower issuance ceiling would reduce dilution for holders who do not stake, while leaving fewer newly issued tokens for staking rewards.

Using the network’s Sept. 22 staking ratio, the proposal models gross staking yield falling from 5.268% to 3.372% when issuance reaches the target rate. Those figures reflect the staking ratio used in the proposal; the yield at the end of the ramp will depend on conditions then.

Validator adoption remains a separate part of the process. Polkachu has indicated it would adopt the corresponding upgrade. Axia has requested an assessment of validators whose active seats depend on delegations from validator-support programs, including how that dependence changes during the ramp.

House of Stake approval alone would not change issuance. Validators must adopt a network upgrade before the lower ceiling can take effect.