NEAR's total supply increased by about 2.69 million tokens between Sept. 22 and Oct. 22, while a governance proposal seeks to reduce the network's maximum annual issuance rate by 36%, from 2.5% to 1.6%. The change would slow future dilution but also reduce the tokens distributed as staking rewards.
Supply growth and the proposed cap
According to network data, supply rose from 1,306,946,399 NEAR at block 216701043 on Sept. 22 to 1,309,640,573 NEAR at block 221111299 on Oct. 22, an increase of 2,694,174 NEAR, or 0.20614%, over 31 days. As of Oct. 22, the protocol configuration still showed a 2.5% maximum annual issuance rate on version 86, above the proposed 1.6% target.
HSP-029, introduced on Oct. 7 in NEAR's House of Stake governance system, would keep the existing allocation of 90% of issuance to staking participants and 10% to the treasury. It proposes a 90-day grace period after ratification, followed by a smooth 24-month ramp, with the cap adjusted each epoch. If the timetable is followed, the 1.6% target would be reached roughly 27 months after ratification. Activation would also require validators to adopt a protocol upgrade.
The proposal follows an earlier issuance debate in June 2025 over a reduction from 5% to 2.5%. HSP-029 concerns a further reduction from the 2.5% cap observed this October.
Staking rewards and validator economics
On Oct. 22, about 592.87 million NEAR was staked against a total supply of about 1,309.67 million, a participation rate of approximately 45.27%. The network had 395 current validators.
Using the proposal's 90% staker allocation and holding participation fixed at 45.27%, a simple annual reward rate would be about 4.97% at a 2.5% issuance cap and 3.18% at the eventual 1.6% target. With an assumed 5% pool commission, the corresponding delegator rates are about 4.72% and 3.02%.
For a delegator with 1,000 NEAR, annual rewards would be about 47.22 NEAR at the current cap and 30.22 NEAR at the target, before compounding. An operator with no self-stake and 100,000 NEAR delegated would see simple annual commission income fall from about 248.52 NEAR to 159.05 NEAR, before operating costs. At an illustrative $5 per NEAR, that commission on modeled issuance rewards is about $103.55 and $66.27 a month.
A separate monthly-compounding illustration, starting with 1,000 NEAR and assuming 5% commission, produces about 1,111.86 NEAR after 27 months under an unchanged 2.5% cap. Approximating the 90-day grace period as three months and applying the 24-month linear ramp produces about 1,093.18 NEAR. Equalizing the terminal value of the two holdings would require the token price in the lower-issuance case to be about 1.71% higher than in the unchanged-cap case. Future prices remain uncertain.
Buybacks, burns, and supply measures
NEAR's February tokenomics explanation describes a governance-controlled set of options for product revenue, including purchases, staking, locking, and redeployment. Its definition of "buyback and earn" expressly leaves acquired tokens within total supply. Buying NEAR changes who holds it, while staking or locking can restrict its availability for trading. A permanent burn destroys tokens and reduces total supply.
The revenue dashboard's fee definitions separate gross fees from the revenue retained after payouts to integration partners, solvers, and apps. Gross product fees cannot simply be counted as money spent buying NEAR. The dashboard's Oct. 22 all-time wallet breakdown assigned 1,543,672.9 NEAR to buybacks.multisignature.near. At block 221112441, the account itself held about 2,048,151.46 NEAR in its account balance. Establishing how much was permanently destroyed requires tracing the disposition of those purchases.
NEAR remained inflationary in total-supply terms over the measured interval. Buybacks could still affect demand or liquid circulation, while the token count expanded.
Governance and market considerations
Sal Ternullo identifies himself as SVRN's CEO and discloses approximately 55 million NEAR held, more than 90% staked, alongside validator infrastructure and a paid MPC node interest.
For holders assessing the next step, the decisive signals are a ratification outcome, validator adoption, and an issuance parameter that follows the proposed schedule. For the buyback strategy, the useful comparison is retained revenue, executed purchases, and permanent burns over the same period. The issuance decision determines the future reward budget. Deflation also depends on permanent token destruction, while price depends on what buyers are willing to pay.
