As a high-profile celebrity public chain, Aptos’ mainnet was officially launched early this morning. According to official browser data, 80% of APT tokens have been staked, sparking community speculation that 80% of the token supply is controlled by the team and investors. To clarify these doubts, the Aptos Foundation released a quick version of APT token economics and said it would release a more comprehensive explanation later.
APT Token Economics
initial supply
The Aptos mainnet launches on October 12, 2022, with an initial total supply of 1 billion APT tokens. APT tokens have 8 decimal places and the smallest unit is called Octa. The distribution plan for these tokens is as follows:
Community and Aptos Foundation Distribution Schedule: This portion of tokens is earmarked for ecosystem-related projects such as grants, incentives, and other community development initiatives. Some of these tokens have been allocated to projects built on the Aptos protocol and will be awarded upon completion of certain milestones.
Community Token Distribution
Aptos Foundation holds: 410,217,359.767 coins
Aptos Labs holds: 100,000,000
These tokens are expected to be distributed within ten years:
125,000,000 community portion APT immediately enters circulation and will be used to support current and future ecosystem projects, grants, and other community growth initiatives in the community category.
5,000,000 foundation APTs were immediately put into circulation to support the Aptos Foundation’s plans for the foundation category.
Remaining tokens are expected to be unlocked monthly over the next 10 years, at 1/120th each time.
All investors and current core contributors are bound by a 4-year lock-in schedule after mainnet launch, which unlocks according to the following schedule:
Year One: Complete Lockdown
Second year and beyond: gradually unlocked on a monthly basis
According to the above timeline, the Aptos team controls at least 67.52% of APT tokens, and more if core contributors are included. The initial circulation is 130 million (125 million + 05 million). Since the APT tokens of investors and core contributors are completely locked in the first year, the initial circulation comes entirely from the Aptos team.
Estimated token supply schedule
Today, over 82% of the tokens on the network are staked across all categories, with the majority currently locked according to the distribution schedule mentioned above. It is important to note that both unlocked (i.e., distributable tokens) and locked (i.e., non-distributable) tokens can be staked.
Staking rewards
To ensure network security and consensus, token holders can stake their tokens to validator operators and potentially receive staking rewards. Staking rewards are distributed between validator operators and stakers without restrictions on distribution. Currently, the maximum reward rate starts at 7% per year and is evaluated every epoch. The maximum return decreases by 1.5% per year to a lower limit of 3.25% per year.
These rewards increase the total supply of the Aptos network and are dependent on the amount of stake and the performance of the validators. Transaction fees are currently burned, although this may be revisited through on-chain governance votes in the future. All rewards and reward mechanisms can also be modified through on-chain governance.
Summarize
The launch of the Aptos mainnet marks the beginning of a new era, with token economics designed to ensure the security and stability of the network. Through a detailed distribution plan and staking reward mechanism, the Aptos team and community work together to promote the continued development of the ecosystem. In the future, as more details are released, we will be able to gain a deeper understanding of Aptos' potential and prospects.
The Aptos Foundation and community will continue to be committed to promoting the development of this innovative public chain and providing support and resources to projects in its ecosystem. As time goes by, we expect to see more applications and projects built on the Aptos protocol, which will further enhance its position and influence in the blockchain field.