NEAR holders vote to cut maximum token issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% a year, and NEAR still slides about 7%

Summary

NEAR Protocol's House of Stake governance body approved HSP-029 on Monday, a proposal to lower the network's maximum annual issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months, The Block and Cointelegraph reported.

The proposal estimates the change would avoid issuing roughly 11.8 million NEAR over two years and 66.1 million over six years, according to both outlets; Cointelegraph put the two-year figure at about $45 million at current prices.

NEAR still fell roughly 7% on Tuesday to $3.82, extending its weekly decline to about 13%, Cointelegraph reported, citing CoinMarketCap.

The cut is not yet binding: it needs Security Council review, then a 90-day grace period, then validators must adopt a protocol upgrade, according to both outlets.

Key facts

• The proposal won support from 99.9% of participating voting power, with about 3.28 million veNEAR cast in favor. (Cointelegraph)
• The issuance ceiling would decline linearly by about 3.75 basis points per month, and daily issuance would fall from about 89,500 NEAR to 57,300 NEAR at full implementation. (The Block)
• Gross staking yield is projected to fall from 5.268% to 3.372%, assuming September's staking participation holds; Cointelegraph rounds this to 5.2% and 3.3%. (The Block)
• The existing 90/10 split of new tokens between stakers and the protocol treasury stays the same. (The Block)
• Cointelegraph describes a 14-day Security Council veto window before ratification. (Cointelegraph)
• NEAR previously cut its maximum issuance from 5% to 2.5% in October 2025. (The Block)