NEAR Cuts Token Issuance, but Its Price Keeps Falling

КЛЁ 4 ноября, 2026 5 минут чтения

NEAR is cutting token issuance, yet investors are showing little enthusiasm. Following the community’s approval of a proposal to reduce annual issuance from 2.5% to 1.6%, the cryptocurrency dropped approximately 7% in a single day, falling to around $3.82. The decision introduces significant changes to the blockchain’s economics, affecting staking rewards, validators, and infrastructure connected to the Telegram ecosystem.

What’s Happening With NEAR?

The NEAR Protocol community supported proposal HSP-029, with 99.9% of the participating voting power backing the changes.

The main adjustments include:

Maximum annual token issuance will decrease by 36%, from 2.5% to 1.6%.
Daily issuance is projected to fall from approximately 89,500 to 57,300 NEAR, assuming a comparable token supply.
Over two years, approximately 11.8 million fewer tokens will be created compared with maintaining the previous issuance rate.
Estimated annual staking yields could decline from 5.27% to 3.37%.

This is not NEAR’s first major tokenomics adjustment. The network previously reduced its maximum annual issuance from 5% to 2.5%.

The latest changes will not take effect immediately. Additional approval procedures, technical upgrades, and a gradual two-year implementation period are still required.

Why Is NEAR Reducing Token Issuance?

The proposal argues that the network’s previous reward structure no longer reflects its current economic needs.

Initially, higher issuance helped attract validators and incentivize participation in the blockchain. However, continuously creating new tokens also increases supply and dilutes existing holders.

According to the proposal, approximately 57% of NEAR tokens are not staked. Their owners receive no staking rewards while their share of the total supply gradually declines.

Reducing issuance is intended to limit this dilution.

However, fewer new tokens do not automatically translate into higher prices, particularly when broader cryptocurrency market conditions remain unfavorable.

Who Loses From Lower Staking Rewards?

Staking participants will be among those most directly affected because they will receive fewer newly issued NEAR tokens.

The proposal provides a practical example: an investor staking 1,000 NEAR could receive approximately 20 fewer tokens over two years compared with the previous issuance model.

Validators face another challenge.

These operators maintain servers, validate transactions, and help secure the blockchain. Their operating expenses are covered partly by staking rewards.

According to the proposal’s calculations, 24 of the 405 analyzed validator pools could become economically unsustainable under the revised conditions.

This does not necessarily mean they will shut down. Actual profitability depends on delegated stakes, operating costs, fees, and other factors.

Nevertheless, smaller operators may face additional financial pressure as rewards decline.

NEAR and Telegram: The Role of HOT Wallet and HOT Bridge

For Telegram users, NEAR is particularly familiar through HOT Wallet.

The project originally launched as a NEAR wallet inside Telegram before expanding into a multichain application supporting several blockchain networks.

An especially interesting component is HOT Bridge, which enables users to transfer assets between different blockchains.

Its architecture includes the HOT OMNI Balance smart contract deployed on NEAR. The contract helps manage cross-chain representations of assets originating from networks such as TON, Solana, and Ethereum.

This means NEAR serves not only as a blockchain for its native cryptocurrency but also as part of the infrastructure supporting cross-chain operations.

However, changes to NEAR’s issuance schedule do not directly alter user balances or the operating rules of HOT Bridge.

HOT Wallet Faces a Serious Competitor

While HOT continues developing its cross-chain infrastructure, Tonkeeper, now rebranded as Keeper, has also entered the broader multichain market.

Keeper supports TON, Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRON, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Base. Users can manage assets and perform cross-chain swaps within a single application.

The wallet also offers swaps without requiring users to interact manually with separate bridges. Its Battery feature simplifies transaction fee payments on supported networks.

This creates direct competition for HOT Wallet, especially given Tonkeeper’s established reputation among TON users.

However, the two products use different technical approaches.

HOT develops its own bridging infrastructure with components deployed on NEAR, while Keeper emphasizes integrated cross-chain swaps and a streamlined user experience.

For users, both approaches address a similar challenge: making it easier to manage assets across multiple blockchains.

What Does This Mean for NEAR’s Economy?

The development of HOT Wallet and HOT Bridge demonstrates practical applications of NEAR technology. However, there is a significant difference between using blockchain infrastructure and generating demand for its native token.

For example, transferring a large amount of assets through HOT Bridge does not mean an equivalent amount of NEAR will be purchased.

The economic benefit to the network depends on transaction activity, fees, and the mechanisms used to process operations.

Therefore, evaluating NEAR’s prospects solely through the number of users of connected applications would be misleading.

Lower issuance will reduce the supply of newly created tokens, while infrastructure development will help determine how extensively the network is actually used.

Ultimately, NEAR is changing its economic model on several fronts. Token holders will face lower inflation, staking participants will receive smaller rewards, and validators will need to reassess profitability. Meanwhile, its technology ecosystem continues expanding amid growing competition between multichain services.

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