NEAR (NEAR) Tokenomics

The NEAR token is the native cryptocurrency of the NEAR Protocol, a Layer-1 smart contract platform utilizing the Thresholded Proof of Stake (TPoS) consensus mechanism. The token economics are designed to secure the network, incentivize participation, and manage network resources through a combination of inflation and deflationary mechanisms.

Issuance Mechanism

The NEAR token operates on an inflationary model designed to reward network participants.

• Initial Supply: The token generation event (TGE) occurred in April 2020, launching with an initial total supply of 1.00 billion NEAR tokens.
• Annual Inflation: The protocol has a fixed annual inflation rate of approximately 5.00% based on the total token supply. As of December 18, 2024, this inflation has resulted in a total token supply of approximately 1.23 billion NEAR.
• Net Inflation: The actual net inflation is calculated as the fixed 5.00% issuance minus the transaction fees collected and burned by the network. This means that if network usage is high enough, the burning of transaction fees could potentially offset the inflation, leading to a deflationary token economy over time.
• Distribution of New Issuance: The newly issued tokens are distributed as follows:
  • 90.00% is allocated to validator staking and delegator rewards.
  • 10.00% is allocated to the protocol's treasury.

Allocation Mechanism

The initial 1.00 billion NEAR tokens were distributed across various categories, with the project team retaining control over several significant allocations intended for ecosystem growth and operations.

The project team controls the following allocations (based on the initial token supply):

Other notable allocations and funding initiatives include:

• Community Sale: Approximately 120.00 million NEAR (~12.00% of the initial supply) were sold in a public token sale in August 2020.
• Ecosystem Funding: In October 2021, NEAR announced an $800.00 million funding initiative for ecosystem growth, with allocations directed toward Proximity Labs, pre-existing projects, Startup Grant Pools, and Regional Funds.
• Community Treasury: The NEAR Community Treasury, launched in March 2023, is intended to serve as a decentralized treasury for grassroots initiatives. While it initially held ~5.66 million NEAR, as of December 18, 2024, it holds approximately 3.49 million NEAR (~0.29% of the total token supply).

Usage and Incentive Mechanism

The NEAR token serves multiple utility functions within the network, primarily focused on security, transaction processing, and resource management.

Network Security and Rewards (Staking)

NEAR uses a Thresholded Proof of Stake (TPoS) consensus mechanism to secure the network.

• Validator Staking: Users can run a node and stake NEAR tokens to become a validator. The minimum amount required to earn a "seat" and participate in consensus is the "seat price," which is dynamically calculated based on the total staked amount. As of December 18, 2024, the seat price was 14,226.00 NEAR (or 11,110.00 NEAR in another source).
• Delegation: Tokenholders can delegate their NEAR to validators via staking pools, allowing them to earn rewards without running a node. Validators use custom smart contracts to manage commission fees and reward distributions for delegators.
• Reward Distribution: The 5.00% annual inflation is the primary source of staking rewards. 90.00% of this new issuance is distributed to validators and delegators, typically twice per day (per epoch).

Transaction Fees and Deflationary Mechanism

NEAR employs a mechanism that combines transaction fees with token burning to manage the token supply.

• Transaction Fees (Gas): NEAR tokens are used to pay for network activities, including processing transactions, deploying smart contracts, storing data, and state changes.
• Burning Mechanism: The network algorithmically burns 70.00% of all collected transaction fees. This burning mechanism acts as a deflationary force, which, if network usage is high, could potentially lead to a net deflationary supply.
• Smart Contract Rewards: The remaining 30.00% of transaction fees are allocated to the creators of the smart contracts called by each individual transaction, incentivizing developers to build on the platform.
• Account Name Auctions: Proceeds collected in NEAR tokens from Account Name Auctions are also burned by the naming contract.

Storage Staking

Smart contract deployers are required to stake NEAR tokens to cover the storage costs of their contracts.

• Mechanism: The amount of NEAR staked is proportional to the amount of data stored in the contract, set at 100kb per NEAR token as of December 18, 2024.
• Availability: Tokens staked for storage are unavailable for other uses, such as paying for transactions or staking to validators. This mechanism is for resource management and does not contribute to network security or earn staking rewards.

Locking Mechanism and Unlocking Time (Future Proposal)

While current staking mechanisms involve locking tokens for validation, a future governance proposal introduces a specific locking mechanism tied to governance participation.

Current Staking Lock

• Validator Staking: When a node stakes NEAR to participate in consensus via the TPoS auction, the committed tokens are effectively locked for at least three days.

Proposed veNEAR Locking Mechanism (Future)

A proposal introduced in July 2024 aims to implement a new governance framework called the "House of Stake," which includes a vote-escrow mechanism.

• Locking for veNEAR: Users would lock NEAR tokens to receive vote-escrow NEAR (veNEAR), a non-transferable token that grants voting power.
• Lock Duration: The proposed lock duration would have a minimum lock of three months and a maximum lock of 48 months.
• Voting Power: Voting power is proportional to the amount of veNEAR held, which is determined by the duration of the lock. For example, locking 1.00 NEAR for 12 months would result in 1.50 veNEAR, while locking 1.00 NEAR for 48 months would result in 3.00 veNEAR.
• Rewards: veNEAR holders would receive an annual percentage yield (APY) reward paid in NEAR, sourced from the protocol's treasury (including the 10.00% of annual inflation allocated to the treasury). The APY would be set by a proposed Screening Committee.

Information regarding the specific vesting schedules and unlocking times for the initial token allocations (Community Grants, Operations Grants, Foundation Endowment, Early Ecosystem) was not available.