Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
On April 17, the Aptos community initiated a new proposal (AIP-119), suggesting a gradual reduction of staking rewards from the current 7% to 3.79% over the next three months, decreasing by 1% each month. This proposal was jointly put forward by Sherry Xiao, head of infrastructure at Aptos Labs, and developer Moon Shiesty, aiming to promote a more sustainable and dynamic ecosystem through adjustments in token economics.
Core Objective of the Proposal: Enhance Capital Efficiency, Activate Ecological Vitality
The main goal of AIP-119 is to optimize Aptos's monetary inflation rate by lowering staking rewards, encouraging capital to shift from passive staking to more dynamic on-chain applications, such as DeFi protocols, re-staking, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and MEV (maximum extractable value).
The current 7% staking yield is seen as the "risk-free rate" in the DeFi space, and excessive incentives may lead users to lock funds in staking, suppressing the diversity and activity of the ecosystem. By reducing staking rewards to 3.79%, Aptos hopes to motivate users to explore higher-yielding on-chain opportunities, thereby enhancing ecosystem activity and alleviating inflationary pressure on the APT token.
The proposal views this adjustment as the initial phase of a broader restructuring of token economics, with a six-month evaluation period to assess results and refine future strategies.
Impact Analysis: Opportunities and Risks
The proposed reduction in staking rewards is expected to have multifaceted impacts on the Aptos ecosystem.
For validators, this change may significantly disrupt their profit models, especially for smaller operators. The proposal includes a sensitivity analysis based on a 5% commission rate, indicating that if the APT price remains in the $5 to $10 range, validators currently holding less than 3 million APT may face losses. According to data, there are currently 53 validators holding a total of approximately 78.4 million APT, accounting for 9% of the total staked supply. Considering the anticipated annual validator costs of $35,000 (although some operational costs could potentially be reduced to around $15,000 based on hardware specifications provided by platforms like latitude.sh), small validators face the risk of being eliminated from the market under cost pressures. This potential elimination effect, if not effectively intervened, could further concentrate staking resources and weaken the network's decentralization. To address this, the proposal also suggests supporting measures—planning to establish a community validator support program to assist small and medium validators through grants and delegated staking, maintaining the network's diversity and resilience.
For APT holders, the decline in staking rewards also means that long-term holding intentions may be affected. After all, staking has always been viewed as a relatively low-risk, stable return capital allocation method. The proposers believe that this negative effect will be balanced by alleviating inflationary pressures and the emergence of new reward opportunities within the ecosystem. It is expected that a series of new DeFi projects may launch in the Aptos ecosystem over the next six months, aiming to provide more attractive on-chain options for capital.
Community Voices
The Aptos community's response to AIP-119 has shown a diversity of opinions.
Jason Chen (@jason_chen998) pointed out in his analysis that the proposal is a strategy promoted by Aptos officials through the community, aiming to stabilize the price of stablecoins by reducing inflation while incentivizing large holders to invest in DeFi and activate the ecosystem. He believes that with the appointment of new CEO Avery Ching and a focus on the Asian market, Aptos is trying to emulate the "wealth creation effect" of Sui and Solana, revitalizing the ecosystem through more grounded approaches.
Roger Bojack (@roger9949) called it a "fantastic proposal," noting that the foundation, as the largest staker, actively reducing rewards demonstrates a determination to "self-sacrifice to master this skill." He believes this move will force the foundation to build the ecosystem, promoting a positive cycle for the token price. On April 24, he further stated that reducing staking yields and supporting the community is a difficult but correct decision for vested interests.
Anymose (@anymose96) posted that AIP-119 has sparked controversy, with overseas large holders becoming "anxious" due to the cut in staking rewards. He believes the proposal is beneficial for the ecosystem in the long run, but in the short term, it may offend large holders who rely on high yields, leading to selling pressure.
PANews (@PANewsCN) analyzed that the goal is to curb inflation and incentivize capital circulation, but pointed out that the real breakthrough lies in "creating new value" rather than merely "cutting costs" (reducing rewards). They expressed concern that without strong ecological projects to support it, the proposal might backfire.
It is worth mentioning that the Aptos Foundation has committed to investing $200 million in special funds to support various ecological construction projects to attract a broader user and developer base.
From a more macro perspective, this proposal aims to guide capital away from purely passive staking towards more active on-chain participation, thereby stimulating a new round of vitality in the Aptos ecosystem. However, it must be recognized that there are certain risks in the short term: the reduction in staking yields may prompt large holders accustomed to high returns to sell off their funds, causing market volatility. Therefore, the success or failure of this transformation will largely depend on whether Aptos can launch attractive DeFi products and on-chain applications within a sufficiently short timeframe to successfully absorb the re-released capital and maintain user stickiness and activity in the ecosystem.
Conclusion
In the context of ongoing external pressures, Aptos is at a critical moment that requires a breakthrough. Its neighbor, Sui, which is also part of the Move ecosystem, has recently achieved success in price trends, ecological expansion, and exchange resource allocation, forming a certain contrast. Meanwhile, Aptos's pace of ecological construction has been slow, with token performance lackluster, and internal community doubts about the project's direction and execution are gradually increasing.
In this predicament, Aptos has begun to show intentions for self-reform. At the beginning of 2025, the project team made significant personnel adjustments, with Chinese founding member Avery Ching officially appointed as the new CEO. As one of the architects of the Aptos framework, Avery Ching's rise to this position is widely interpreted as Aptos recognizing structural issues in its management system and attempting to realign its strategic direction and execution rhythm through a change in leadership. Faced with multiple pressures of ecological weakness, user loss, and intensified market competition, whether Aptos can seize this opportunity for self-repair and regain community trust will be a core observation point in the coming period.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
