Near Protocol's staking base has held steady through a sharp cut to rewards. Nearly 46% of the circulating supply of $NEAR remains staked, despite the reduction in issuance last year, accordi
Near Protocol's staking base has held steady through a sharp cut to rewards. Nearly 46% of the circulating supply of $NEAR remains staked, despite the reduction in issuance last year, according to Bitwise (@Bitwise). The network (@NEARProtocol) is now weighing a further cut.
The figures come from Bitwise's Q4 2026 Staking Report, released on October 20, which put NEAR's staking ratio at 46% with roughly 596 million tokens locked up. That stake has a market value of about $3 billion. Stakers are earning an average yield of 4.87%.
Independent network data largely backs the report, showing a staking ratio between 45.7% and 46.1% and total yields of 4.6% to 4.9% in mid-October.
The ratio is notable because of what came before. In late 2025, NEAR reduced its maximum annual issuance from 5% to 2.5%. That earlier change won approximately 80% support from validators. According to Coinpedia, the community has maintained its staking ratio over the last three quarters despite the cut.
The new proposal, HSP-029, was authored by Sal Ternullo of SVRN. It would gradually lower the issuance cap while keeping the existing split of new tokens: 90% to stakers and 10% to the treasury. It would reduce maximum annual issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months. The ballot opened on October 19 and stays active for 14 days, ending November 2.
The change would reduce rewards. The proposal estimates gross annual staking yield would fall from about 5.27% to 3.37% if participation stayed at the 42.71% recorded in a September 22 snapshot. Those projected yields are estimates rather than guaranteed returns. The proposal also estimates 11.8 million fewer NEAR tokens would be issued over two years and 66.1 million fewer over six years.
Approval is not the final step. It requires a vote by the House of Stake and consensus from validators. If approved, a 90-day grace period would precede the start of the reduction.
The vote is a live test of how much further rewards can be trimmed before participation starts to slip. Crypto Briefing described it as exactly that. A lower yield could reduce the incentive to stake, though the next quarterly Bitwise report will show whether the 46% ratio holds.
Crypto Briefing: NEAR's staking ratio holds at 46% with $3B staked
Hokanews: NEAR Protocol opens vote to cut annual token issuance to 1.6%
Crypto Briefing: NEAR Protocol weighs proposal to cut token issuance
