Near Protocol Ditches Token Burn for Fixed Supply Model

Near Protocol's co-founder Illia Polosukhin has rejected a recent community proposal to burn tokens held by the Near Foundation, calling it an inefficient use of ecosystem resources. The proposed token burn would have eliminated some tokens from circulation, but Polosukhin argued that this approach has historically failed to deliver meaningful benefits to markets or network ecosystems.

Polosukhin pointed out that other Layer 1 blockchain networks have tried foundation token burns in the past and found them to be short-term fixes without lasting value. He noted that token burns often act as a temporary price support mechanism, but do not address underlying economic imbalances or improve network utility.

Instead of pursuing a burn, Polosukhin proposed adopting a fixed maximum token supply model similar to Bitcoin's, which would cap the total number of $NEAR tokens and introduce predictable scarcity. This approach would require community governance approval and careful calibration to avoid disrupting staking rewards or network security incentives.