NEAR Protocol Halves Inflation, Despite Failing to Win Popular Vote

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Ah, the beauty of democracy, or perhaps its tragicomic fallacy. NEAR Protocol, in an act of sheer audacity, has decided to halve its token inflation rate-from a rather modest 5% to a mere 2.4%. A move so daring, it could have been scripted by the finest playwrights, were they fond of blockchain rather than prose. But lo and behold, the community vote on this grand plan-a vote that had all the drama of a Greek tragedy-failed to meet the required threshold for approval. How utterly delightful. 😏

  • In a move that surely no one saw coming, the upgrade slashes the annual issuance of NEAR tokens by a staggering 60 million. The result? A somewhat less generous staking yield, tumbling from an idyllic 9% to a rather more modest 4.5%, assuming the faithful keep their tokens staked. Truly, what more could one ask for in the quest to limit token dilution? 🎭
  • Validators now find themselves caught in a delicate dance, needing to control 80% of staked tokens to ensure the activation of this delightful new protocol within a mere 30 days. One can only imagine the drama unfolding in their ranks. 🍿
  • Bowen Wang, the esteemed CTO of NEAR, has weighed in on the matter, emphasizing that while the community vote may have been a slight misstep, it is the validator approval at the consensus layer that remains the true authority in governance. How reassuring, if only one were to ignore the rather messy details. 🧐

Ah, October 30-such a significant date, marked by a network upgrade that promises to do the unimaginable: reduce the annual token inflation rate from a humble 5% to a shockingly reasonable 2.4%. This monumental change, which will see nearly 60 million tokens vanish from the minting process, is designed to combat the ever-pernicious problem of token dilution. But of course, that’s not the end of it-staking yields will fall from an almost euphoric 9% to a paltry 4.5%, assuming that half of the circulating supply remains locked in. How utterly tragic for the stakers! 😱

The activation of this grand protocol update requires validators-those noble block-producing custodians of the network-to collectively control 80% of staked tokens. They now have a mere 30 days to decide whether they will bow to the will of this change. How gracious of them to have such a say in the matter! 🏛️

NEAR Protocol’s Inflation Cut: The Governance Saga Continues

And here comes the pièce de résistance-the plot twist that even the most seasoned crypto aficionados did not see coming. Despite the failure of the community vote-where only 89 validators, representing a meager 45.06% of the votes, supported this inflation-reduction proposal-NEAR’s core development team forged ahead, including the change in the network upgrade. Is this not the stuff of legends? 🔮

In response to the ensuing concerns, the ever-diplomatic Bowen Wang, CTO of NEAR, graciously explained that the decision still hinges on validator approval at the all-important consensus layer. According to Mr. Wang, “The upgrade requires a supermajority of 80% of the stake of block-producing validators to adopt it and will not be implemented unless that threshold is reached.” A noble sentiment, though one could argue that it bears a certain resemblance to a king deciding whether or not to listen to his people-after all, what’s democracy without a bit of selectivity? 👑

One can only wait with bated breath to see whether the validators will rise to the occasion, or whether they will stumble into chaos. For now, we remain spectators in the grand theater of NEAR’s inflation saga. Bravo! 👏

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2025-10-31 13:24