Aptos has accelerated its token burn rate over the past 30 days, destroying 174,100 APT and bringing cumulative burns to 1.9 million since the Layer-1 blockchain's mainnet launch in October 2022.
At the current monthly pace of roughly 174,000 APT burned, the network is on track to destroy approximately 2.1 million APT annually—exceeding its entire burn total since launch in a single year.
How Burns Work on Aptos
Every transaction fee on Aptos is burned rather than distributed to validators or held in treasury. In 2026, a governance proposal increased gas fees tenfold, which proportionally increased the burn rate. Despite this increase, the average transaction fee remains around $0.0005, keeping stablecoin transfers inexpensive for users.
The Emissions Problem
Staking rewards tell a different story. The network mints approximately 1.5 million APT monthly to validators and delegators who secure the network. Against the roughly 174,000 APT burned monthly, this produces net supply growth of about 1.4 million APT each month.
Aptos launched with an initial supply of 1 billion APT. Under governance measure AIP-140, maximum supply is currently capped at 2.1 billion APT. The Aptos Foundation has permanently locked and staked 210 million APT, representing roughly 18% of circulating supply at the time.
Implications for Token Holders
For investors not staking, ongoing dilution from emissions outpacing burns could pressure token value. Stakers receive a share of new issuance, offsetting some dilution.
The network's path to better supply balance depends on on-chain activity. Higher transaction volume directly increases APT removed from supply through fees. Trading-heavy applications represent one avenue for increased burn, though the network's low-fee model limits burn per transaction.
Key metrics to monitor include monthly burn totals, transaction counts, and any governance changes to staking emissions or the AIP-140 supply cap.
