Proposal: Create Vested NEAR — 2-Year Lock on 50% of Staking Rewards to Reduce Liquid Emissions and Protect NEAR’s Yield Advantage

Voting link: vote.intea.rs

Summary

We propose that 50% of all staking rewards on NEAR be locked for 2 years before becoming usable. The remaining 50% remains liquid as it is today.

This reduces short-term sell pressure without cutting NEAR’s 5% inflation or ~9% staking APY — one of the highest among major L1s. It preserves validator incentives, protects NEAR’s competitive yield advantage, and demonstrates the protocol’s smart contract power by enabling time-based rewards natively.

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Why This Proposal?

• NEAR emits 5% inflation per year, with ~55% of supply staked → ~9% APY.
• Today, 100% of staking rewards are liquid, creating continuous sell pressure.
• NEAR’s ~9% APY is a major competitive edge over chains like Ethereum (~3.5%) and Solana (~7%).
• Cutting inflation would hurt validator income and weaken the staking incentive.
• At the same time, NEAR is building long-term token demand, but that takes time.

This proposal reduces emissions into the liquid market without reducing the total earned rewards — a balanced, forward-looking solution.

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Proposal Details

2-Year Vesting on 50% of Staking Rewards

• Every epoch, rewards are split:
  • 50% liquid NEAR, as now
  • 50% Vested NEAR, which unlocks after 2 years
• Applies equally to validators and delegators
• Unstaking does not forfeit vested rewards

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What Is Vested NEAR?

Vested NEAR is:

• Fully earned
• Time-locked for 2 years
• Automatically becomes claimable at the end of the lock period

This is not a slash or a cut — just a time alignment of rewards.

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Optional: Liquid Vested Token (LVT)

Liquid staking protocols (e.g. Meta Pool, Marinade) may optionally:

• Mint a secondary token (e.g. LiNEAR.vest) representing Vested NEAR
• These can:
  • Be traded
  • Used in DeFi
  • Held to maturity and redeemed 1:1 for NEAR

This preserves capital efficiency for advanced users and protocols while honoring the vesting schedule.

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Benefits Overview

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Why This Matters

• Protects validator income and long-term network security
• Preserves NEAR’s APY edge, a major user acquisition lever
• Reduces liquid emissions without permanent monetary tightening
• Creates time for future demand (e.g. AI agents, chain abstraction) to catch up
• Showcases NEAR’s smart contract capabilities with time-locked native logic and optional tokenization

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Implementation Feasibility

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Conclusion

This proposal introduces Vested NEAR — a fair and effective way to reduce sell pressure without reducing yield.

• Full rewards are still earned
• Liquid emissions are halved
• NEAR’s staking yield advantage is preserved
• Long-term alignment is strengthened
• And NEAR’s smart contract platform shines

Let’s take the responsible path: reward belief, slow dilution, and showcase what NEAR can do.