Developers Have Pressed the Button on This Altcoin: Millions of Tokens Will Be Locked Up, and Inflation Will Be Cut in Half

The Aptos Foundation has announced a comprehensive token economy reform that will reshape $APT’s supply and reward mechanism. Under the new plan, 210 million $APT will be permanently locked and included in the staking system. This amount represents approximately 18% of the current circulating supply.

According to the foundation’s statement, the locked tokens will never be sold or distributed. The goal is to permanently remove 210 million $APT tokens from market pressure. This amount represents approximately 37% of the tokens held by the Aptos Foundation at the start of the mainnet.

The foundation stated that the practice would have an economic impact similar to token burning. However, the tokens will not be technically burned; instead, they will be held indefinitely in staking to contribute to the network’s security. The Aptos Foundation will fund its operations with staking rewards rather than proceeds from the sale of these tokens.

Staking Rewards to be Halved, $APT Supply to be Capped

Other planned changes to the token economy are also noteworthy. The Aptos Foundation proposed reducing the annual staking reward rate from 5.19% to 2.6%, increasing transaction fees on the network tenfold, and limiting the total $APT supply to 2.1 billion tokens.

These steps are expected to reduce new token production and increase token burn through transaction fees. The foundation believes that with the implementation of these changes, $APT could become deflationary over time.

On the other hand, future grant programs for the ecosystem will also be restructured. Support for projects will be tied to the achievement of specific performance targets. Furthermore, an $APT buyback program, financed by cash reserves and future revenues, is among the options being considered.

With Aptos’s first four-year token unlock cycle ending in October 2026, annualized token unlocks are expected to decrease by approximately 60%.

*This is not investment advice.