NEAR approves a two-year path to 1.6% issuance

NEAR’s House of Stake approved a proposal to lower the network’s maximum annual token issuance from 2.5% to 1.6%, setting a two-year path to slow new supply growth. The HSP-029 proposal on the NEAR governance forum says the plan changes one protocol parameter while preserving the existing split of new tokens: 90% to staking participants and 10% to the treasury.

The vote passed on Nov. 2, according to The Block’s report on the House of Stake decision. The approval does not itself change issuance. The House of Stake Security Council must review the result before ratification, and validators must later adopt a protocol upgrade for the new rate to take effect.

How would NEAR’s issuance rate fall?

After ratification, a 90-day grace period would give wallets, exchanges and staking services time to prepare. Then the protocol’s maximum annual issuance rate would decline smoothly, adjusted each epoch, from 2.5% toward 1.6% over 24 months. The proposal sets the pace at roughly 3.75 basis points per month. Think of it as a dimmer being turned down gradually rather than a switch flipped at once.

The ramp changes the ceiling on new issuance, not how those tokens are divided. The proposal says the 90/10 allocation stays in place throughout. It also leaves the emissions mechanism intact: the amount issued declines, while the same shares continue to go to stakers and the protocol treasury.

What changes for stakers and other holders?

Lower issuance means fewer new NEAR tokens are distributed as staking rewards, so gross staking yield is projected to fall. The proposal estimates a decline from 5.268% to 3.372% by the end of the ramp, assuming the staking participation rate measured in September remains unchanged. That is a projection, not a guaranteed yield for individual stakers.

Holders who do not stake receive no staking rewards, but their share of the total supply is diluted more slowly when fewer tokens are issued. The proposal estimates that the ramp would prevent about 11.8 million NEAR from being issued over two years, compared with keeping the 2.5% ceiling. It estimates 66.1 million fewer over six years.

What still has to happen before the cut takes effect?

The Security Council review and ratification are still required, followed by the grace period and validator adoption. The proposal makes clear that a House of Stake vote alone cannot change a protocol parameter. Validators must install and adopt the upgrade; only then can the scheduled per-epoch reductions begin. Until those steps are complete, the issuance ceiling remains unchanged.

Sources

• HSP-029 proposal on the NEAR governance forum — gov.near.org
• The Block’s report on the House of Stake decision — theblock.co