Aptos burns 174,100 APT in 30 days, but staking emissions still outpace the burn
In brief
- Aptos burned 174,100 APT in 30 days and 1.9 million APT since its 2022 mainnet launch.
- Aptos transaction fees are burned in full; none go to validators or a treasury.
- Staking emissions run near 1.5 million APT monthly, per Crypto Briefing's figures.
- Net APT supply grows about 1.4 million tokens per month, Crypto Briefing estimates.
- AIP-140 temporarily caps maximum APT supply at 2.1 billion.
Every fee gets burned
Aptos doesn't split transaction fees the way a lot of chains do. On the network, every transaction fee is burned, with nothing going to validators as revenue and nothing parked in a treasury, Crypto Briefing reported. The network's real-time supply dashboard put the monthly figure at 174,195 APT as of mid-October, slightly above the 174,100 cited in the X post.
Fees went up, too. A governance proposal raised gas fees tenfold, which increased how much APT gets burned with each transaction (the average fee still sits around $0.0005, per the report). At the recent rate, the burn works out to an annualized pace of roughly 2.1 million APT.
On Aptos, every transaction fee is burned. None of it goes to validators as revenue, and none of it sits in a treasury.
Emissions still outrun the burn
That's the catch.
Staking emissions paid to validators and delegators run at approximately 1.5 million APT per month, according to Crypto Briefing. Subtract the roughly 174,000 APT burned over the same window and the publication arrives at net supply growth of about 1.4 million APT every month.
Crypto Briefing's analysis is that staking payments keep the chain secure but dilute holders who aren't staking, and a fee burn only offsets that if activity is high enough. It said the ongoing dilution could weigh on APT's market value, with non-staking holders feeling it most.
Supply history and the cap
Aptos launched its mainnet on October 12, 2022, with an initial supply of 1 billion APT. Supply has expanded since then through staking rewards and token unlocks. Under a governance measure known as AIP-140, maximum supply is temporarily capped at 2.1 billion APT, per Crypto Briefing. The Aptos Foundation also permanently locked and staked 210 million APT, which was about 18% of circulating supply at the time.
So can on-chain activity close the gap? Crypto Briefing pointed to Decibel, an app expected to support higher-frequency trading on Aptos, as one it said could lift burn rates. The report didn't quantify how much of the 1.4 million APT monthly net issuance that would offset.
Frequently asked questions
Why is APT supply still growing if Aptos burns its fees?
Staking emissions paid to validators and delegators run at approximately 1.5 million APT per month, according to Crypto Briefing. Against roughly 174,000 APT burned over the same 30-day window, the publication calculated net supply growth of about 1.4 million APT per month.
What happens to transaction fees on Aptos?
Every transaction fee on Aptos is burned, according to Crypto Briefing. None of it goes to validators as revenue and none is held in a treasury. A governance proposal raised gas fees tenfold, increasing the APT burned per transaction, though the average fee sits around $0.0005.
What is AIP-140?
AIP-140 is an Aptos governance measure that temporarily caps the maximum supply of APT at 2.1 billion, according to Crypto Briefing. Aptos launched with an initial supply of 1 billion APT in October 2022, and supply has expanded since through staking rewards and token unlocks.
