Aptos Proposes 2.1B Cap, 2.6% Staking and 10X Gas Fee in Tokenomics Shift

• Aptos proposes cutting staking rewards to 2.6% and capping supply at 2.1B APT.
• Gas fees would rise 10x, with all fees permanently burned.
• Foundation plans to lock 210M APT and shift grants to milestone-based vesting.

The Aptos Foundation has proposed major changes to Aptos tokenomics to reduce inflation and link token supply to network activity. The plan includes a hard cap of 2.1 billion APT, lower staking rewards, and higher transaction fees.

The plan aims to align token issuance with network usage as the blockchain shifts from early-stage incentives to a performance-based model. To that effect,  Governance votes on the measures are expected in the coming months.

For context, Aptos launched its mainnet in October 2022. The network reports block times below 50 milliseconds and 99.99% uptime, with no major exploits. Nearly 500 developers contribute monthly across about 9,700 open-source repositories. More than 200 projects operate in production across decentralized finance, payments, and infrastructure. According to the foundation data, revenue rose 1,552% to $33.5 million, according to foundation data.

Staking Rewards to Be Reduced

Under the proposal, the foundation plans to seek governance approval to reduce annual staking rewards from 5.19% to 2.6%. It also plans to introduce longer-term staking options that offer relatively higher rewards while keeping total emissions aligned with the lower rate.

Validator costs may also decline. The foundation said AIP-139 proposes a new validator architecture designed to reduce hardware expenses. The changes aim to maintain network security while limiting token issuance.

Hard Cap Set at 2.1 Billion APT

A crucial part of the proposal includes a protocol-level hard cap of 2.1 billion APT. About 1.196 billion APT are currently in circulation. Of that total, 1 billion tokens were minted at mainnet launch, and roughly 196 million have been issued as staking rewards.

If approved, the cap would leave about 904 million APT available for future staking incentives before issuance ends. The foundation said the four-year unlock cycle for early investors concludes in October 2026, which would reduce annual unlocks by about 60%.

Gas Fees to Increase, Burns to Rise

The foundation will also propose a 10-fold increase in gas fees. All transaction fees on Aptos are paid in APT and permanently burned. Even after the increase, the foundation estimates stablecoin transfers would cost about $0.00014.

Higher fees combined with increased transaction volume would raise the amount of APT removed from circulation.

Trading Activity May Accelerate Burns

Decibel, a decentralized exchange incubated by Aptos Labs, plans to execute every order, match, and cancellation fully onchain. Because each action requires gas, higher trading volume would increase token burns.

Foundation projections estimate Decibel could burn more than 32 million APT per year as it scales to over 100 markets. Burn levels would rise further if transaction throughput increases.

Foundation Lock and Performance-Based Grants

The foundation said it will permanently lock and stake 210 million APT. These tokens will not be sold or distributed. Instead, staking rewards from the locked tokens would support operations.

Future grants will vest only after recipients meet performance milestones tied to network activity. The foundation also said it is exploring a programmatic buyback program funded by its revenues.

If governance approves the proposals, lower emissions, higher burns, and the supply cap could create conditions where more APT leaves circulation than enters it. Votes are expected in the coming months.

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