Aptos Foundation has unveiled a broad tokenomics and governance proposal aimed at moving the network away from what it called a bootstrap-era subsidy model. The plan centers on a 2.1 billion APT hard cap, lower staking rewards, higher gas fees, and possible buybacks, all designed to reduce emissions and tighten circulating supply over time.
According to the foundation, 1.196 billion APT are currently in circulation. Of that amount, 1 billion APT were minted at mainnet launch, while 196 million APT have been distributed as staking rewards since launch. If the hard cap is set at 2.1 billion, the remaining issuance capacity would be 904 million APT, or about 43% of the cap. As the network moves closer to that ceiling, new token issuance would decline and eventually end, with validators expected to rely mainly on transaction fees rather than newly minted tokens.
Staking yield could drop from 5.19% to 2.6%
The proposal also calls for cutting the annual staking reward rate from 5.19% to 2.6%. Aptos Foundation said the updated staking framework would place more weight on longer lockup commitments. At the same time, it wants to raise network gas fees by 10x, with those fees burned on every transaction as a way to reduce net emissions.
The foundation said that even after a tenfold increase, stablecoin transfers on Aptos would still cost about $0.00014, which it described as the lowest in the world. It argued that such pricing would still suit stablecoin use, payments, and other high-volume transaction activity.
Foundation floats permanent staking and buyback options
Another part of the proposal would permanently stake 210 million APT, equal to roughly 18% of the current circulating supply. The idea is to use staking rewards from those tokens to support foundation operations instead of selling treasury-held tokens into the market.
Grant distribution would also change. Under the proposed model, grants would become performance-based, with token vesting tied to predefined milestones and delayed until those targets are met.
The foundation also said it will explore a token buyback program or the creation of an APT reserve funded through cash on hand or future foundation revenue, with the goal of balancing supply dynamics over time.
Part of a wider wave of tokenomics revisions
Aptos is one of several crypto projects to revisit token economics in recent months. Last week, Aave Labs proposed sending all product-related revenue directly to the DAO treasury. In late January, the Injective community approved a proposal to cut issuance and strengthen existing burn mechanisms in order to reduce INJ’s long-term supply.
Back in December, Uniswap burned 100 million UNI under the UNIfication proposal after it won overwhelming community support. Aptos’s latest plan adds another large-scale supply-side redesign to that list.