Aptos is preparing a broad restructuring of its tokenomics model as APT continues to trade significantly below its historical levels. Over the past year, the token has lost more than 85% of its value and remains over 95% below its all-time high from early 2023. In the last month alone, APT declined by 44%.
In response, the Aptos Foundation has outlined a shift from what it describes as a bootstrap-era emissions model to a performance-driven framework designed to align token supply more closely with network activity.
Read also: Celestia’s Biggest Upgrade Yet Goes Live – Price Still Near Lows
From Inflation to Discipline
Since launching mainnet in October 2022, Aptos has relied on ongoing emissions to support validators, grants, and ecosystem development. There are currently 1.196 billion APT in circulation, with no hard supply cap under the existing model.
The Foundation now proposes reducing the annual staking reward rate from 5.19% to 2.6%, nearly halving emissions. It is also exploring changes to the staking framework that would provide relatively higher rewards for participants who commit to longer staking periods, while keeping overall emissions within the new reduced range.
Read also: Why “Cheap” Presale Tokens Are Often the Most Expensive
A Hard Cap at 2.1 Billion
For the first time, Aptos plans to introduce a protocol-level hard cap of 2.1 billion APT. No additional tokens could be minted beyond this ceiling if approved through governance.
With 1.196 billion APT currently in circulation, approximately 904 million tokens would remain available for future staking rewards. The Foundation states that these rewards would decrease over time and could eventually be phased out as validators become funded primarily through transaction fees.
The four-year unlock cycle for early investors and core contributors is also scheduled to conclude in October 2026, reducing annualized supply unlocks by approximately 60%.
Read also: Bitcoin’s Real Supply Is Lower Than 21 Million: The Impact of Lost Coins
210 Million APT Permanently Locked
As part of the proposed changes, the Aptos Foundation intends to permanently lock and stake 210 million APT. These tokens would not be sold or distributed and would remain staked indefinitely to support network security.
The locked amount represents nearly 18% of the current circulating supply. Staking rewards generated from these tokens would fund Foundation operations instead of token sales.
Read also: How Does Crypto Staking Work? All You Need to Know
Gas Fees Increased to Boost Burns
Another key proposal involves increasing network gas fees by 10 times the current level. All transaction fees on Aptos are paid in APT and permanently burned.
Despite the proposed increase, stablecoin transfers are expected to remain extremely low-cost, at around $0.00014 per transaction. The higher fees are intended to raise the aggregate amount of APT burned as network activity scales.
Read also: Binance’s New Listing Rules: A Chance for Pi Network?
Decibel and High-Throughput Activity
Aptos is also preparing for the launch of Decibel, a fully onchain decentralized exchange that executes all orders, matches, and cancellations directly on the network.
Because every transaction is processed onchain, high-frequency trading activity would increase gas consumption and, in turn, APT burns. Projections suggest that as Decibel scales to over 100 markets, it could burn more than 32 million APT per year, with burn rates rising further as transaction throughput increases.
Read also: Inflationary vs. Deflationary Crypto: Which Solution Is Better?
Performance-Based Grants and Buybacks
Future grants distributed by the Aptos Foundation are expected to follow a performance-gated structure. Under this model, token distributions would vest only upon meeting predefined milestones. If key performance indicators are not achieved, distributions would be delayed.
The Foundation has also stated it will explore a programmatic buyback mechanism funded through cash reserves or future revenue streams, including licensing and ecosystem investments.
Read also: 3 Tokenomics Tricks Presales Use to Mislead Investors
Toward a Deflationary Model
The proposed framework combines reduced staking emissions, a hard supply cap, permanent token locks, increased gas burns, performance-based grants, and potential buybacks.
According to the Foundation, these mechanisms are designed to create conditions where APT burned through network activity could eventually exceed new token issuance, potentially leading to a deflationary supply dynamic over time. All changes will be subject to governance proposals and community approval before implementation.
