$NEAR Protocol announced the vote, saying the proposal would “cut issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months.”
Lower Dilution, Lower Validator Income
The cap would decline gradually each epoch, at a pace equivalent to roughly 3.75 basis points a month. The grace period is intended to give wallets, exchanges, custodians and staking providers time to update their disclosures.
For holders who do not stake, the change means slower dilution without a reduction in staking income they currently receive. Stakers would earn fewer new tokens, while validators would collect less commission revenue. The proposal estimates that operators without their own $NEAR holdings would lose roughly 36% of commission revenue at the target rate; their actual income would also depend on delegated stake and fees.
The proposal acknowledges that lower yields could reduce participation in staking. Its projected yield is not a guaranteed return: if less $NEAR is staked, the staking allocation would be divided among fewer tokens, raising the yield for those remaining.
Ternullo’s disclosure says SVRN holds approximately 55 million $NEAR, more than 90% of it staked, and intends to vote in favor.
The vote extends an earlier issuance overhaul. As The Defiant reported in October 2025, $NEAR’s core team put a reduction from 5% to roughly 2.5% into an upgrade despite an unsuccessful earlier community vote, prompting objections over governance. Validator adoption remained a separate requirement.
HSP-029 explicitly retains that separate adoption step. Its implementation plan also calls for quarterly reports comparing actual issuance with the schedule and tracking validator-set health.