Aptos is currently considering a governance proposal that could significantly alter how staking rewards are distributed, sparking debate within its community. The proposal is strongly supported by influential figures at Aptos Labs and the Mirage protocol. Its goal is to disincentivize excessive staking yields to bring more people to actively engage with the network. If successful, this transformation would be a watershed moment in how we create economic incentives for complex, decentralized networks. It can lead to more sustainable scaling if done correctly.
Compared to other blockchains, Aptos provides relatively high staking rewards, higher than Ethereum but lower than Cosmos. The goal of these changes, as we understand it, is to encourage participants to take actions that tangibly serve the network at large. You fuel data infrastructure and deep in the MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) strategies. Importantly, you’re a proponent of new decentralized systems like DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks).
While potentially risky, the plan would slowly lower staking yields. They’re going to fall from about 7% to a little under 4% in the next three months. This change has sparked a national outcry, questioning the equity and the effect of the changes that are being proposed.
In recent weeks, members of the community have been lobbying for the Aptos Foundation to bring forward a delegation initiative. This new program aims to do just that. It dramatically rethinks how the foundation allocates stake across validators, creating an incentive to drive much wider participation and decentralization. The Aptos Foundation’s commitment to decentralization is already under pressure to take this path. It’s largely a mechanism to shield the little guys from truly disastrous outcomes.
